On the equivalence of "chick" and "dude" - I would say they are equivalent terms, and both inappropriate in the workplace. It's just easy to cause offence by us

On the equivalence of "chick" and "dude" - I would say they are equivalent terms, and both inappropriate in the workplace. It's just easy to cause offence by using dude in the wrong context. This usage of chick triggered a red flag for me as well, but rereading his comment I could see that the context was respectful. Since this isn't a workplace, I think it's fine.