I was at a comic convention when a random older guy walked up to me, and said: "You're so sexy, and I would say that in front of your husband." I awkwardly said: "thank you", and then just kind of inched closer to my friends, and tried to get their attention so the guy knew I wasn't alone. I've had several guys not so casually mention my "husband" as if they're trying to get me to tell them I don't have one. I honestly can't tell if they genuinely think I'm female, or if they just have some kind of fetish for people like me. Either way, it's creepy.
I've had a number of men shout at me on the street, whistle at me, or make sex noises at me in parking lots. I tend to be really unsure of what they're thinking. I never had men talk to me like that before I started transitioning.
I've noticed that since I've been on hormones and dressing as a woman full time, a lot more people (both men and women) call me "sweety", "hun", etc. It seems to happen more on days when I look more passable.
If I go out to dinner with only women, there's a pretty good chance that at some point, the server will call us "ladies". On a few occasions, our server has just kept on calling me "miss", "ma'am", or "hun" all evening after that.
I tend to be kind of neurotic about strangers who act as if I'm a woman, because I don't always see it in my own reflection. I'll have days when I look in the mirror, groan, and drag myself outside because I have something I have to do, only to get hit on, cat called, or called by female pronouns. I tend to discount experiences like that as being from people who are just very trans friendly, or trying to make me feel better about my situation. Maybe someday I'll see it enough in my own reflection that I'll believe the responses are genuine.
