to dislike being greeted as 'lady'?

[TheMonster]

There is a lovely candle shop in town near me, and I went in there today, only to find it had been taken over.
The new owner was standing at the door, and as I walked in, he greeted me with 'hello lady'. I was quite shocked as it sounded awful, and he did the same to another lady as she entered too.

what on earth do you want to be called?

Someone takes the time and trouble to say hellp politly and you complain

I would presume someone who said this was from an Asian culture and didn't speak English as their first language.

I would, however, resist the the urge to barter with them.

Whoever it was probably wasn't a native (English) English speaker or they'd have said 'Hello Madam'. 'Hello lady' is quite common, however, in other countries. Was your candle-seller foreign?

He obviously got on your wick, but had a burning desire to please.

(So sorry)

'Hello' would have been nice.

He was English, and not Asian. He was definitely a native English speaker.

It just sounded rude and patronisingly sexist.

YANBU

Obviously context is important, but it either sounds servile or insincere to me.

I don't like being called madam either.

punk

i'd say that English wasn't his first language.
YABU.

I like being called "lady" (but it's usually by pre-school children, and it's sooooo cute! )

...better than "get out scrubber".

English was his first language.

It's easy just reply "Hello Gentleman".

SmethwickBelle - how on earth did you know what shopkeepers call me?

I used to run a brownie pack and was called 'Miss' - which was endearing. Brown Owl always sounded ridiculous - especially in public.

It sounds like just a missed communication - but it is better than sweetcheeks, honey, sweetheart etc.......

You could try speaking in a low transexual voice 'I ain't no lady.'......he may not risk it again.

You can't be sure. Just because someone is white and speaks English with no accent they could be from anywhere... My German colleague always greets me with 'hello lady', for example.

He then spent the next 5 minutes trying to sell me a strange wicker table that I showed no interest in. He was English.

Punk, I want to go back now to do just that!!!

YANBU. "Good morning Madam" or just "hello" would be better. "Hello lady" is like saying hello to an object and sounds odd. Or it sounds as if there's a surname missing - "Hello Lady Jones".

How odd. Surely "Good Morning" would suffice.

I also love it when small children refer to me as a "lady". The first time it happened I knew I was finally a grown up!

'You could try speaking in a low transexual voice 'I ain't no lady'

So funny !

I don't mind any of them, pet, love, darlin', and my personal fave 'me duck'.

Was his first language English though OP?

It is a bit odd, but I wouldn't take offence. He was clearly trying to be polite. Better than "love"! (grrrrrrr) or nothing at all!

I didn't take offence, really, but I found it odd, rude and impolite. COnsidering he was the shop owner, I thought it was bad customer service.

He then went on to try to sell a candle to a woman by saying they were made by a company who had gone bust 10 years ago

I used to work on an IT helpdesjk and I have to say I only ever was called Lady in a negative way...

It was always thinks like "Now you listen Lady" or "Your stuff doesn't work lady"...

They never spoke to the guys like this (I was the only girl) and to be honest I would find it strange to walk into a shop and be addressed as "Hello Lady"...

Thanks, Batheba.

Oh I don't think it was rude. My cornershop man calls every woman 'rainbow'