DonΓÇÖt Call Me ΓÇ£Young LadyΓÇ¥! By Sondra Forsyth IΓÇÖm letting my hair go gray ΓÇô or as my beauty editor friend calls it, ΓÇ£silverΓÇ¥. I like my new, honest look very much. Yet ever since I stopped touching up my roots, IΓÇÖve been addressed by some people as ΓÇ£young ladyΓÇ¥. I know they probably mean well, and I have yet to respond with the snarky comments IΓÇÖd like to use. Rest assured, though, I find being called ΓÇ£young ladyΓÇ¥ disrespectful. Why? IΓÇÖm fortunate enough to be healthy at this stage of my life, and although IΓÇÖm not as spry as I was way back when I was a professional ballerina, I do have all my faculties. Not only that, but I believe in the adage that goes ΓÇ£older and wiserΓÇ¥. When you call me ΓÇ£young ladyΓÇ¥, you are ignoring all the experiences that have made me mentally and emotionally richer over the decades. Think about the Native Americans who revere their elders. ThatΓÇÖs an attitude I wholeheartedly applaud! I canΓÇÖt imagine a scenario in which a youngish Native American addresses a Native American elder as ΓÇ£young ladyΓÇ¥! I know that the readers of thirdAGE probably range in age from 40-something to well beyond the official retirement age. If you are on the younger end of this spectrum, please think before you address an older woman as ΓÇ£young ladyΓÇ¥. Like me, she probably wonΓÇÖt correct or reprimand you. I know, though, that she is almost certainly offended rather than flattered. What should you say rather than ΓÇ£young ladyΓÇ¥? How about ΓÇ£womanΓÇ¥ or better yet ΓÇ£personΓÇ¥? Examples: ΓÇ£The woman seated in the far left corner of the audience asked an important question.ΓÇ¥ Or, ΓÇ£The person seated in the far left corner of the audience asked an important question.ΓÇ¥ OK, IΓÇÖm getting off my soapbox now! Carry on! Sondra Forsyth is a Co-Editor-in-Chief of thirdAGE.com.