"Young Man"
"And what can I get you, young man?" the waitress asked. I made my order.

'Young man,' I thought. I'd recently turned forty, yet was called, by a stranger, 'young man'. And she wasn't especially old, either. I couldn't tell which side of forty she was, but I was sure she was easily within a decade of my own age.

'Young man.'

Perhaps I didn't look as old, to other people, as I looked to myself in the mirror. Could I really look like I was still in my twenties? Surely not. Early thirties, maybe? Perhaps. Merely before forty? Young-looking enough to be called a 'young man', anyway.

I noted another customer, a woman who clearly wasn't young. I tried to guess her age. Late forties? Fifties? Late thirties after years of unhealthy diet, health problems, and a lack of exercise? Possibly.

'Young man.'

The waitress approached the other customer. "And what would you like, young lady?"

Shit.
(Honourable Member is upstanding, Mon 11 Jun 2012, 3:59, 2 replies)

ARTHUR: Old woman!
DENNIS: Man!
ARTHUR: Old Man, sorry. What knight live in that castle over there?
DENNIS: I'm thirty seven.
ARTHUR: What?
DENNIS: I'm thirty seven -- I'm not old!
ARTHUR: Well, I can't just call you 'Man'.
DENNIS: Well, you could say 'Dennis'.
ARTHUR: Well, I didn't know you were called 'Dennis'.
DENNIS: Well, you didn't bother to find out, did you?
ARTHUR: I did say sorry about the 'old woman,' but from the behind
you looked--
DENNIS: What I object to is you automatically treat me like an inferior!
ARTHUR: Well, I AM king...
(McChinaman banned, Mon 11 Jun 2012, 6:19, closed)

This was going through my head reading this

(Claude Speed was a Roman called Claudius Speedicus, Mon 11 Jun 2012, 9:37, closed)