Old Ironmaker Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 (edited) A huge pet peeve of mine. It's been a few years but when was it OK for every waitress or waiter and many other " professional" people start calling their customer guys? I had a real estate salesman call us guys, man oh man, I told him we are not your "guys", he can't spit in my food. I have finally deserved to be called sir since the hair has a swash of grey on each side and the hairline is more than 4 fingers from my eye brows. I dare not tell the 17 year old I'm not your guy, they are in control of my food. I did politely ask one pimple faced child, why does everyone call their customer "guys" she told me her manager told them to it was more friendly and it helped to develop "report" with a hard T. I said report, what's report? She answered something about making the customer feel comfortable. Oh report. I started at the plant full time out of high school and called everyone sir, from the Janitor to the Superintendent until I was told to call them by their first name or Mr. One bird around 5 years older actually told me to call him Mr. Seaton, many years latter he transferred to my dept. and was one of my shift foreman and didn't remember me. I told him he could call me Mr. General Foreman. Then I reminded him I worked for him 25 years earlier. We had a good laugh. I have earned it call me sir or my wife Miss, she will love that, anything but "guys" we will still tip well. Johnny D Edited March 8, 2015 by Old Ironmaker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freshtrax Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 I'm in sales. Everyone's sir. Older than me or not. Goes along way. I deal with allot of people everyday that are not used to it ( I handle all the apartment buildings in the city of Guelph for a certain telecom company ) I for one love making the customer feel important. It also helps I lived in the south . If an elder asked you a yes or no question the answer is yes sir or no mam. When I have kids they will be brought up the same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Ironmaker Posted March 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Good for you FreshTrax. You don't have to be raised below the Mason Dixon to have good manners but I know the first time I went down south many years back I was amazed how polite all the people were. You buy a pack of gum and they treat you like a millionaire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salmonidstalker Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 what about all the kids calling adults by their first names. When i was young it was always Mr. and Mrs., now I see 6 year olds calling 50 year olds by their first name. Drives me crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lew Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Perhaps I'm odd, but being called guy has never bothered me in the least and when I child calls me Mr. or Sir I tell him / her my name is Lew and that's what I'd prefer. If the parent doesn't want them to use my name, I'm good with that too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom McCutcheon Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 I'm with Lew on this one. After the first introductions and SIR is out of the way, I tell them they can call me Tom, I've answered to a lot worse names over the past 66 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strik Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 My son is 4 for the longest time we drill into him sir/ Mr this year he asked why call everyone sir they always tell me their name and it just makes them feel old We try to teach good manners but sometime they say the best things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wormdunker Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Not really an issue with me, but I do admire a youngster using Mr., Mrs.or ,Ms while addressing an older person. That's the way I was brought up. Now my friends children will address me by my first name - I'm OK with that because the children are now 40 - 45 ish. Mr. Ironmaker - now I see the connection from the other post about Mr. Wormdunker! You obviously have too much time on your hands!! LOL!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCTFisher9120 Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 1 on 1 it's sir. 1 on 2 I'll always say have a good day guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey buoy Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Drilled into the kids,myself as well.Always sir and till we get to know each other well enough on a first name basis.Respect is about one of a the few things we can control.I tend to use guys as well when in conversation with two or more.Situations do very,whether work or pleasure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigugli Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 I'm with Lew for different reasons. In uniform, everyone was called by last name or rank. Even amongst mess mates we called each other by last name. Sir was a title reserved for officers. I once made the mistake of calling a CPO "Sir". It was as if I had hit him in the face. As his face went beet red he screams "Never call a petty officer sir. Unlike the "gentlemen" we earn our pay!" I then paid for the insult with 50 pushups. After all that rigid formaility, I prefer to be called by my name, nickname or scouter name. Doing business the proper address is still Sir or Ma'am. Plural it is Folks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grizzlybri Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 being called "guys" does not bug me either, however the one that does is being called bro. As for manners I was raised to call all elders Mr. Miss/ms (because you didn't want to assume they were married) I'm still fairly young only 30, and I'm sad to say i think you can blame my generation for all of the slang of Bro, Guys, or any slang for addressing a group or indivual. If I am going to greet a group, yes I am guilty of asking "how are you guys doing? " but most of the time I try and say folks doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Cliff Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 There are far more important things in life to get upset about LOL. I was brought up that I was to call anyone older than I or in a position of authority sir or mam if you didn't know their family name and Mr. Miss/Mrs. and the family name if you did. I still do it to this day unless that person has introduced themselves by their first name in which case I assume that they want me to use it. As for a younger person calling us "guys", doesn't bother us in the least! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lew Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 There's one restaurant my wife and I frequent and we often get the same waitress. She's very nice and great at her job but she calls my wife "dear". My wife is probably 45 years older than her but just shrugs it off. Kinda bugs me but I shrug it off too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 I was never in the military but know how to treat people with respect after 40 years in a service profession. We taught our kids and they are teaching our grandkids to be polite, have good manners be tolerant and have respect for all living things AND even to be polite to those egotists who demand respect and subservience for no other reason than they like their ego's to be stroked. One earns (commands rather than demands) respect through example and leadership and is not a one way street. As for the greeting "guys", I have mixed feelings. Would I like my wife and I to be addressed as "guys", not really but could live with it rather than making a scene if the person addressing us was friendly and sincere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickingfrog Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 (edited) People call my wife miss at their own peril. I'm more concerned with someone's actions then their words. Now, get off my lawn! Edited March 8, 2015 by kickingfrog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Just don't call me Ma'am Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Ironmaker Posted March 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 I don't expect anyone to call me sir, it's this " Hi guys" we get from waitresses that is my pet peeve. I don't lose any sleep over it that why it's called a pet peeve, no big deal. As for kids calling adults their parents age by their first names, blame us, it was the children of people my age that let it pass. I have a Godson that was calling my father who was old enough to be his Grandfather, by his first name. His Father never said a word. I calmly explained to him why he should call someone 60 years older than him Mr. The kid was good with that, and for how rude that child was when he was a kid he is the most polite young men you will ever meet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i2cool2fool Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 being called "guys" does not bug me either, however the one that does is being called bro.I was called bruh just last week by a hipster 40 year old. I shake my head and move on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crappieperchhunter Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 With casual acquaintences or strangers, Sir or ma'am here and if it's a group it's gentlemen or ladies. That's how I was raised. But I absolutely don't care how others do it. Once had a guy who appeared to be the same age as me call me "sonny" during our whole conversation. That was a little weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lew Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Even as a small kid back in the 50's I called all my parents friends by their 1st names and that's just exactly how they wanted it. When my kids came along it was the same, they called my friends by name and their friends called me Lew As a kid my aunts & uncles were 1st names and my cousins called my parents by their names. Only people in all our families that has titles were Grandparents All of my wife's family was the same and still is. And in case anyone is wondering, EVERYBODY turned out great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike rousseau Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 I don't expect anyone to call me sir, it's this " Hi guys" we get from waitresses that is my pet peeve. I don't lose any sleep over it that why it's called a pet peeve, no big deal. As for kids calling adults their parents age by their first names, blame us, it was the children of people my age that let it pass. I have a Godson that was calling my father who was old enough to be his Grandfather, by his first name. His Father never said a word. I calmly explained to him why he should call someone 60 years older than him Mr. The kid was good with that, and for how rude that child was when he was a kid he is the most polite young men you will ever meet. Not to be a smart guy but what's a waitress supposed to say to a group of 4-10 people...? Address each one individually as ma'am or sir? Or good afternoon ladies and gentleman...? I've worked in restaurants (all about as classy as the next... Kelsey/east side Mario's...) and they all said "guys" or "everyone"... It's more how you great a friend then a customer... Its to make thdm feel like regulars... It's like the show cheers... If they yelled sir or mr.____ instead of Norm it would be weird... I work for one of the biggest companies in the world and the director for my region who is higher then the highest person at my site of 1200 people is addressed by his first name... We all are... If someone says Mr.______ it's more jokingly... We all talk to each other as equals with higher or lower levels of responsibility... Not many people use the term "my boss" where I work... If my direct reports that I supervise called my Mr.Rousseau and sir It would be weird... Most of them are twice my age... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Just don't call me Ma'am Okay Ma'am....I can run faster scared that you can with a rusty screwdriver.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Cliff Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Okay Ma'am....I can run faster scared that you can with a rusty screwdriver.. That I'd have to see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickingfrog Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Last night at the Colt's game I sat next to 2 guys who were in their 30's. Every second sentence was punctuated with a fist-bump. My 6 year old son knew they idiots. Get off my lawn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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