My professor said, “If a server says ‘How are you guys doing?’ then I correct her immediately and am very offended.”
I was flabbergasted, because I realized it was exactly how I talked to my tables. I always greet tables with, “Hey guys, how we doing tonight?” and nobody has ever corrected me or seemed upset. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how different generations have become and how disrespectful it may sound to the older generation.
Check out this website with all the comments about this topic.
Ever since this topic came up, I have become more conscientious about how I talk to my guests, and I change the way I greet my tables depending on their age. If I have a table of teenagers to people in their 20s, I greet with “guys”. If I have a table of all women, I say, “Hello ladies,” and if I have guests in their upper 30s and above, I try to greet with, “Hello folks,” and that seems pretty neutral to me.
I'd rather be called "guys" than "ladies," which makes me think of the 1950s.
ReplyDeleteI think "guys" can mean "people" or "young men," depending on where you're from, as some of the comments on that web discussion suggest. But maybe the point of your journalism professor is that everyone should keep in mind that some older people and people from different parts of the country could understand that term in a different way.
Actually, I love "y'all"! Non-gender-specific and very friendly. We northerners need a word like that!
We run into this problem a lot where I work. You never really notice it till someone says something.
ReplyDelete