Hun

Hun, as in Attila the Hun, a barbarian ruler who ransacked and devastated land from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean way back when.

Or Hun, a name gum chewing waitresses in greasy spoons call all their customers.

Hun, a generic form of address by people trying to appear friendly.

Even the Hun that the postmistress in my home town calls me when I mail a package there.


Huns whose common thread is that they want something from someone, be it a kingdom, a sense of friendship, or a tip. Generally well meaning, depending on which side of the table you're on.

But yesterday I was Hunned by a young man in the window of a fast food place. He was young, probably in his early twenties and for some reason that Hun really annoyed me. And that bothers me.

Am I being sexist? If he had been a woman of the same age would I have found it less annoying? I am less bothered by him calling me Hun than by my own feelings about it. And yet, I am reluctant to go back there, because it truly does make me very uncomfortable.