Dear oh dear

I was reading a magazine at the doctor's office this morning. Apparently a previous issue had had an article criticizing the tendency of people to address older women as "dear". This prompted a letter to the editor from someone who complained bitterly about this tendency, and proudly said that whenever someone called her "dear", she called them "moose" in response. She then said that a grocery store clerk had committed the outrage of calling her "sweetheart", and in retaliation she had left all her groceries sitting there and gone to buy them somewhere else. My question is, who is being rude, the person who addresses you with a term of endearment or a termagant who responds with "moose"? I spent four days in Manchester in June, and revelled in being called "love", "my love", "darling", and "sweetie" by all and sundry: taxi drivers, waitresses, hotel clerks, you name it. People should get a grip; there are many things to get angry about in this world, but being addressed by a term of endearment is not one of them.