"After you, young man." Said to me upon leaving the elevator. Yeah, I'm 79 and

[Lydiarose]

24. Hated it when I WAS young

At my first job as a financial analyst in a big corporation after getting my MBA, my boss called another department to tell them he was sending over a "young lady" to pick up some paperwork. It really took me aback. I looked at all the other financial analysts, mostly male, and wondered if he would have said "I'm sending over a young lad to pick some paperwork." No, he'd have said, "I'm sending over a man." He knew "girl" was offensive but couldn't bring himself to call me a woman because I was in my 20's. Why it was necessary to identify my gender, I don't know. He could have just said I'm sending over an analyst, but maybe he felt it would be confusing on the other end when a female arrived instead of an expected male? It really bothered me, but I didn't challenge it; he was a nice guy. But I puzzled over it for some time. Now, of course, it really puzzles me but not from the gender perspective but rather the age contradiction. As the other poster said, it now feels patronizing and condescending.