I was just now wondering why these things happen more to women than to men. I think the thing that galled me most about yesterday was "young lady." "Girl" is bad enough, but that was worse, with the scolding a child undertones. By contrast, my husband says he hasn't been called a boy since he actually was still a boy, and I have never heard him addressed as "young man." I'm reasonably certain his mother used to call him that when she was disciplining him, back in the day, but by gosh, he's 50 years old, and she doesn't do that anymore.

So why is it that people (either male or female) feel so free to call me "girl" and "young lady," when they wouldn't take the same attitude toward my husband?