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Message: <blockquote data-quote="STARP_JVP" data-source="post: 2502569" data-attributes="member: 31580">Anybody on this forum who is a fellow Aussie may have heard about the happenings at Parliament, where security guards were asked to stop calling people 'mate'. This isn't a political thread but that point leads on to my question, which is: do you mind if people call you a familial name? Obviously non-Australians won't get called 'mate' by a stranger very often, but they will get called 'buddy', 'chief', 'pally', 'squire', 'dude' and so on. A lot is made of how people use these familial terms instead of calling people 'sir' or 'madam'. I guess I'm asking if anybody here is like me and doesn't like to be called 'sir', or 'madam' if you're a lady. It's just a personal thing, but I find 'sir' to be sycophantic. To me it implies a level of respect I don't deserve, and it's also disingenuous because it's never used in the right context. It's supposed to be used to show you respect a person, but in my experienced it's used to make it look like you respect a person when you couldn't care less about them. To me it's a buzzword - a pointless pleasantary. I feel uncomfortable when waiters use it, for example. I just want my dinner quickly and efficiently - beyond that, I neither want or expect to be treated like a better.  Am I alone here in that a) I don't mind being addressed familiarly by strangers (within reason) and that b) I don't like being called 'sir'. Please tell me I'm not - everyone thinks I'm weird.</blockquote>

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