Ya, would he rather be ignored or not called anything?
I think it’s nice if a waitress calls a customer honey. I don’t see it as some sociological statement or customer/servant power issue. Nor would I think that such a waitress is anything but being friendly.
This dude is over analyzing the whole thing.
Yes, in his conclusion, he says the waitress may have been fulfilling a role of Southern femininity, establishing the balance of power in her “relationship” with his as a customer, or rebelling against her lower status as a waitress, but did it every occur to him to realize she’s probably just being friendly? Not maternal, not sexual, just friendly?