WAITRESSES AND FAMILIARITY IN SPANISH

 

Initially, I was shocked to be addressed as "cariño" by a waitress in a café in Madrid. Then, I reconciled myself to the friendly attitude of South American waitresses and attendants at restaurants, supermarkets, and coffee houses. My youngest daughter told me a few minutes ago that she was taken aback by the cashier at a supermarket calling her husband "cari," short for "cariño." "Cariño," "encanto," "amor," "corazón," "cielo," are terms of endearment that are nice but meaningless in this context. They are common in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Venezuela, and other countries south of the border. Some people object to this familiarity, but I don't.