Every so often, my company hires temporary help to work in production. They seem to have people they draw on fairly regularly. One of these people is a woman who looks to be in her 50s. She’s the one I need help with.
You see, I work in IT and don’t get back to production that often, although I know and like our regular people who work there. This woman, however, I don’t know. I don’t even know her name. It used to be that every time she saw me, she’d ask me my name. I didn’t mind the first couple of times, but after 5 or 6 times, it got old. She’s stopped doing that. Now she’s started saying “Hello Sweetie” or “Hello Sweetheart”. Now, please understand. I’m a little bit shy in places and a bit standoffish. I’m not always at ease with strangers. I’m also from a family which doesn’t use endearments. The gentleman I’m crazy about doesn’t call me “Sweetie” and, if he did, I’d be worried about him. I’m sure she’s trying to be friendly, but it rankles a bit, especially since she used to constantly ask my name. I don’t want to be called “Sweetie” by anyone, especially a relative stranger. To be honest, I find her a bit off-putting, in part because her greeting to a male coworker of mine is so affectionate I was starting to think she must be related to him (she isn’t).
Any advice on how to handle this? I’d like to let her know that a simple “Hello” or “Hi there!” will be enough and that I don’t care for being called “Sweetie”, but I don’t want to hurt her feelings. Yes, I realize I may be sounding a bit hypersensitive. It also really isn’t that big a deal, but I thought I might see some interesting opinions.
I also fully expect that at least half of the first dozen posts will involve someone calling me “Sweetheart”, “Snugglebuns” or worse, so I am prepared for it!
Thanks!
CJ