Even when folks correct themselves, it still stings like a tiny plastic toothpick sword jabbed in my heart. And it just kind of stays there and I feel its sharpness for a while before it eventually dissolves. There’s no need to say “sir” when I’m buying a cup of coffee. “How can I help you?” or “How can I help you today?” works just as well as “How can I help you, sir?” And, really, nobody thinks, “Goddamn, that cashier called me ‘sir’! Just like Paul McCartney! Fuckin’ A!”
