I just started watching NBC’s show “The Good Place.” Which is just fantastic.

Kristin Bell’s character Eleanor calls everyone “man,” regardless of gender.

It absolutely is a thing that some people do. And it’s common. I’m not defending it — in fact, I explicitly said that it’s a habit that people need to break out of. But it is a thing that people do, and not just people who are sexist. It’s a thing people say without thinking, and they just haven’t realized yet that there’s a problem with it.

Like how everyone said “mailman” for a long time instead of “postal worker.” Or how flight attendants used to be “stewardesses.”