The Veil accompanied me to a dermatologist quite a while back. A nurse and a doctor were both present, and during the appointment, I called Veil "babycakes". I work with children, so saccharine vocabulary is par for the course with me.
As we were leaving, I heard a female voice say, "Babycakes?" derisively, and then a few voices laughing about it down the hall. I was pissed. Don't get me wrong, I work in customer service--I understand that one of the few joys workers get is to make fun of ridiculous/strange/amusing patrons. I just happen to believe it should be done behind closed doors.
I have problems standing up to anyone in the medical industry. I respect knowledge and hard work, and I perceive those in the medical industry as being plentiful in both, so even though this next bit might not seem important to anyone else, it's a huge personal step for me.
Today I had another appointment, and the same doctor and nurse were present. The appointment went fine, the doctor left, and as the nurse was leaving, I said there was one more thing I wanted to talk to her about.
"Last time I was here, I called my boyfriend babycakes," I said, smiling. "As we were leaving, I overheard someone say, 'Babycakes?' and then laugh about it."
"Oh, no," said the nurse, soft and serious. I continued, still smiling and pleasant.
"Could you let the staff know that if they want to make fun of patrons, that's totally fine, but they should probably make sure we're gone first?"
"Sorry about that," she said, embarrassed.
"It's all good," I said, still smiling. "Thank you very much."
And then we left.
I'm proud of myself.