DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am a 73-year-old man. Looking at me, I am obviously somewhere in the 70s age range. I often encounter much younger people who address me as "young man."
I do not understand why they do it. We both know I am not young. Do they think I feel better to be so addressed?
For example, when I had hip replacement surgery recently, I was attended to very professionally afterward by a physical therapist, of apparent age mid-30s or so, who deserves great credit for everything she did in helping me to recover and return to what I consider to be a very vigorous 73-year-old lifestyle.
But she keeps calling me "young man." Maybe it shouldn't bother me, but it does. How should I handle this situation?
GENTLE READER: By asking the therapist politely to stop, because yes, she does think that this makes you feel better.
Our society has the appalling concept that it is embarrassing to age, and that we therefore have to keep up the elaborate pretense that everyone seems young. You are not the only adult who finds this disrespectful. If you explain this gently, you will be doing a favor not only for other clients, but also for her, as she ages.