Someone was writing today in a newspaper about getting to his forties and feeling that some young people these days are rather too familiar: they use your first name instead of Mr Whoever. He resented it a little.
Well, when he gets older like me he may find that it's not so much over familiarity that is common but a tendency to categorise you. You're not Mr. but "Love", not Sir but "Mate".
As in "there you go Mate," or "watch the step Love".
After a while you get used to it because you realise you've reached an age that carries with it a certain degree of respect but with a measure of kindness in it.
When I came home from Sainsbury's one day I said to my wife: "Now I've reached rock bottom; I am now of the very old generation. I was called, not Mate or Sir or even Love, but Lovely."
What's worse than that - or is it better? - is "My Lovely" as in "Want some help with packing your bags, Love?"
"No thanks, I can manage."
"There you go then, My Lovely."
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