When "Your Better Half" should not be used

Recently I was in a store which I have frequented for a number of years with my husband and I head something that I didn’t think was appropriate from one of the staff. Both of us were there at the evening and we were not standing today so this one staff said to my husband where is “your other half” and his comment was she is upstairs and you have probably walked by her.

Well, this staff member came upstairs and finally probably after another 10 or minutes finally decided to see me and said to me oh, I saw “your better half” downstairs. This same staff member had walked by me quite a few times before even saying hi to me and I had tried repeatedly to at least get a hello to her, but she seemed to avoid any of this type of recognition. At one point she was within maybe three feet of me and still didn’t see me and there were other times she seemed to be looking in my direction but didn’t see me or just didn’t want to acknowledge that I was there.

Hearing the words “your better half” is extremely bad and the only time “better half” should be said is when it’s from your partner not from anyone outside of the relationship. When you, someone outside the relationship, are referring to someone as “your better half” you are degrading the person you are talking to. You are implying that the other person, is a better person and who you are talking to doesn’t matter. 

What bothered me so much about this comment was I was the main reason that we go to this store, not my husband and I have known this person longer than I have been in a relationship with my husband. Maybe, now what I am seeing is what she currently thinks of me and that is fine because she won’t be getting my business any longer. I am very thankful that she no longer owns the business, and I get along very well with the new owner.

When you are talking to someone that you know both sides of the relationship, please refer to the other person as your “other half” instead of “better half” because when you say better half, you are implying to the person that you are talking to that they aren’t equal to the other person in the relationship to you.