where I grew up in California not only is “dude” generally non-gender-specific, half of the time it doesn’t even refer to a person at all.
I said it to a faucet today.
A customer once came to me to order a sandwich and said “I want this dude”
Dude is more than a word, it’s an emotion.
dude is a way of life
^
but please if you’re uncomfortable with being called “dude” or “bro” or any of the sort please tell me!!
Same. I grew up in California in the 90s so I say “dude” about as much as I say “fuck” (like 100 times a day).
Really though if it bugs you tell me I’ll make an effort to not call you “dude”.