Children addressing adults

JIL

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Name badges only have first names on them for security reasons though.

Why wear a badge at all?
Its actually for customer service reasons, it is felt that a company is seen to be giving a better customer experience if their employee wears a badge.
I just feel it adds to why children use adults first names, rather than Mr and Mrs.

onlyroz

missbiggles1 wrote: »

If you asked them to call you by their first name that's fine, just as it would be for another adult.

Yes, I think it's rude to address anybody by their first name unless you've been invited to do so, whether you're a child or an adult.

However, if you're wearing a name badge with "Melanie" or "Dave" on it, then that's an open invitation to be addressed in that manner. As for work colleagues - if somebody new arrived I wouldn't just go up to them and say "hi Dave", I'd either wait to be introduced or I'd say "Hi, I'm Onlyroz, nice to meet you", from which presumably the person would either say "Hi I'm Dave", or "I'm Sir Admiral Lord Minister Farnsworth-Porpington", or whatever. And then going forward I'd call them that.

Georgiegirl256

onlyroz wrote: »

Yes, I think it's rude to address anybody by their first name unless you've been invited to do so, whether you're a child or an adult.

However, if you're wearing a name badge with "Melanie" or "Dave" on it, then that's an open invitation to be addressed in that manner.

Not really. We just had no say in the matter. People would see your badge and then remember your name and say things like "oh, I was with Georgie before, is she is in?" or someone would use it to get your name if they were doing a mystery shop on you, and that was ok.

We all hated it with a passion though if someone just started using our name in a overfamiliar fashion. We were there to serve, not get hit upon. We had no choice but to wear the badge, but we didn't give people person to start acting like we were besties just because they knew our names!

In our store, there was someone else with the same name as me, 2 other girls with the same name, and 2 others who shared a name too. The fight we had to get our manager to take our surnames off the badges was unbelievable! We wouldn't wear them until he did! He couldn't understand why we didn't want our full names plastered across them.

onomatopoeia99

bluenoseam wrote: »

I have to speak to "unknown" adults on a daily basis at work & regularly use a variety of generic salutations ranging from mate to squire, generally the more experienced customers I'll say sir. (And even that I find to be a little condescending)

Whereas I won't use a name or title at all. I'll say "Hello" or "Good morning."

I'd prefer it if the world did the same as me, I intensely dislike being called "sir" in shops, garages etc. I haven't been knighted by the Queen. If they have my name, then use my forename if they have to use anything, but I'd prefer nothing.

Similarly if I'm in a shop I won't use someone's name, even if they are wearing a badge.

lostinrates

j.e.j. wrote: »

I find that even doctors sometimes introduce themselves by their first name now. It doesn't feel right to me.


A child shouldn't be calling anyone 'mate', it sounds a bit cheeky.

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

Whereas I won't use a name or title at all. I'll say "Hello" or "Good morning."

I'd prefer it if the world did the same as me, I intensely dislike being called "sir" in shops, garages etc. I haven't been knighted by the Queen. If they have my name, then use my forename if they have to use anything, but I'd prefer nothing.

Similarly if I'm in a shop I won't use someone's name, even if they are wearing a badge.

If you had been knighted the address would be different. As it is you are fine to be called 'sir'.


I spent a lot of time as a small child in US and other places where as others have mention, Sir and Ma'am are appropriate forms of address for adults including your parents, and in France where of course the translation is the form of address.

The words only have power you give them. I love them as they can offer tender adoration, utmost respect, and indeed, utter contempt or merely mild amusement in a person's behaviour if wanted.


What I do not like is people using my forename but expecting me to use their surname. If a dr, for example would like to call me 'lost' in stead of mrs in rates then I call him/her James/jane instead of Dr Smith. I'm happy with either option though. In fact, even more laid back, many people get what I am called wrong, and call me variations of it, it doesn't bother me at all, I just go with it.

AmyTurtle

I have never heard a child address anyone as mate, except teenage boys who are being a bit cheeky.
My dad is a tradesman and will call all of his customers Sir, Madam, or Mr/Mrs X until invited to do otherwise. As a child we called our parent's friends Aunty/Uncle X. Now I'm an adult I just call them all by their first name, even my real aunties and uncles. My friend's children all call me Aunty Amy at their parent's request, but I wouldn't be offended if they just called me Amy.
I think it's partly a generational thing - my Grandma was horrified when the nurses in hospital called her by her first name but it wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

engineer_amy

I would expect mate or love from teens, but not anything younger.


as many others have said, when I was young all of mum and dads friends were referred to as auntie X or uncle Y, and if it was someone you didn't know, you just kept quiet until you were asked a question!


Getting older, I would refer to my friends parents as Mr&Mrs... until they told me to call them by their forenames, and even now if I was introduced to an elderly lady or gent, I would do the same


At school, all teachers has to be called Mr ... or Mrs/Miss ..., and when I went to university straight after school, most of our lecturers were Dr suchandsuch. I went back to university aged 24 and the lecturers at that point all said "call me Ronnie" etc, I found this very hard to get used to, but most of my classmates (who had just left school) had no problem with it.

Tropez

I'm 31 and it was commonplace when I was a teenager to address unknown adult males (bus drivers, store clerks etc.) as mate, unless they were ticking you off in which case it depended on whether the ticking off was warranted. Unknown adult women were generally addressed as miss.

Friends' parents were Mr or Mrs [Surname] until we were told otherwise.

Teachers were addressed as Sir and Miss, except our PE teacher who preferred Mr [Surname].