While some people think little about titles, it means a great deal to others. Almost everyone prefers to be referred to by a specific title or name. It is not for others to question, but for them to obey that person’s wish and address them how they would like.
Here, a woman makes the mistake of undermining another woman’s title and even being misogynistic in her approach. But before anyone rules her guilty, you, the reader and jury, decide.
The woman in this story, whom we’ll call Janet, has a six-year-old son, Steve. Steve has a friend of the same age named John, and they often hang out together at John’s house.
John’s father, Mike, is usually home, as he works from home, but his wife doesn’t. She is rarely home and has a busy life working as a professor for a local university.
It was one of those typical days when Steve and John hung out at John’s house. Only on this day Janet made a discovery that ruined the relationship between the two young boys.
As she picked up Steve from his friend’s house, she noticed he said, “Bye, John! Bye, Mr. (John’s dad). Bye, Doc!” The last one threw Janet off. Doc? Why was her son addressing his friend’s mom as Doc?
There are worse names to call someone than “Doc,” but Janet was not having it. She asked Steve why he called her that, and he explained she asked him to call her that instead of “Mrs.”