Is "Babe" Still Acceptable?

I recently got into a huge argument with friends at a dinner party after the guys referred to the waitress as "babe".  Although I was not offended, I mentioned that I didn't feel that was appropriate after reading the waitress's body language.  This started a huge debate (including me polling my peeps on twitter), so I ask this question "Is calling somebody babe still acceptable"?

My friends argument was that we live in a society that is too politically correct and that they did not mean to offend and only used that phrase as a term of endearment since they couldn't remember her name.

My other friends argued, that it was just not inappropriate for them to be referring to that particular waitress as "babe", since she was obviously in the same age bracket and I believe that it is usually more acceptable for an older person to use when interacting with somebody younger. The debate on twitter was comical!  Women all around were offended and the men were not.  Each stating the same excuse - term of endearment intended for kindness not rudeness.

There also seemed to be a clear divide about the appropriate age, so we called over the waitress and asked her the question " Did my friend offend you when he called you babe?"

Her response was simple, she said, "not me, but I did catch it and it did make me pause", "I know tons of women who would be offended"

So I ask you this - Do you think it is okay to call somebody "babe" and does their age matter?

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