love the love

ever since i stepped on the british plane in los angeles, i've been fondly(?) called "my dear," "love," "sweetheart," and most often, "darling" by almost every english person i've encountered, male or female. and for some irrational reason, it makes me feel GREAT every time! does that make me a bad feminist??

at home, once in a while at work i'd get called "honey" or "hun," and even "baby" a few times--but almost always by older women. when it happened, i took little notice. in my own speech, i sometimes refer to friends as "love," and would never use a term of endearment on a stranger, except maybe a baby...or a dog.

but here, the love runs rampant. this morning i walked to the grocery store, and was charmed for the umpteenth time by a british person calling me "darling". the accent makes it so much better, too. da-ling! that's quality stuff. i don't know if the brits say it to everyone. maybe it's becuase i'm a young woman, or because i'm ginger and they feel badly for me. perhaps it's because i'm always smiling randomly, hahaha.

but really, for being a population stereotypically considered stiff and proper, affection flows like beer and cider. maybe that's the explanation...everyone's just drunk. at any rate, i'm looking forward to more weeks of being verbally coddled by strangers.

so long, my darlings,
lilly