“Hey Guys”

We walk into our favorite P-town sandwich shop, we sit down for an overpriced breakfast in Novato, we step into a trendy burger restaurant in Corte Madera and what we hear in each place no matter the city or sophistication of the establishment is the “hey guys” greeting. Throughout our dining experience the “guys” theme holds strong with the “how is everything guys”, “you guys doing okay” and “thanks guys”.
For the most part I am more pleased with being greeted quickly and or cheerfully than frustrated or confused about being called a guy. This gender oversight is pretty easily forgiven and mostly forgotten when followed with good and attentive service. I still have to ask why though, why are grown women greeted the same way a teenage boy would be?
I’m not going to wave the feminist flag, and this isn’t a rant about inequality. To be quite frank “guy” seems like a pretty casual and lazy greeting even for a man.  That’s exactly what it seems to be, laziness!  I’ve tended bar before and did my time waiting tables so I feel like I get it a little bit, its routine, force of habit, the monotony of asking group after group of people how they are and what they want.  Heck, most of us have some script we repeat over and over while at work, a default auto-pilot that helps us through. Why not step it up a notch though? Just because you don’t really like your job or you can’t wait to go home doesn’t mean you can’t excel at your job and give it just a bit more effort.
I always feel like if you greet someone as if they are good, respectable, sincere, mature people that even if they aren’t they might see you calling them sir/ma’am/lady/gentleman as an opportunity to rise to the occasion. I’m not saying that the way you greet someone is going to change who they are, but is it crazy to think that it might change the way they interact with you?
There are statistics out there stating that 10 to 20 languages die each year. I know that the english language isn’t dying out because we use casual slag terms to greet each other, but when we use the same verbiage to greet people in professional and casual settings I think there is a part of our language and culture that is suffering. I know that my Grandmother didn’t walk into restaurants when she was a young lady to be greeted with a “hi guys” and I hope that she still doesn’t have that problem, but if she isn’t greeted that way why would any women or grown person for that matter?
There is a certain amount of courtesy and formality that should remain in our culture, not at the expense of being friendly but to further accentuate the kindness we express towards each other. So lets drop the “hey guys” and just go with “hello” or “good afternoon or evening”, it’s just as easy a so much classier.