Is it me, or are a lot of "growing older" people noticing both a lack of common etiquette in being dealt with by government agencies and such, as well as a growing incidence of younger people showing more respect? Sounds like a contradiction, and of course it is.
But recently I've noticed a common thread when dealing with many younger people by telephone (banks, real estate agents for rentals, and government agencies) where they actually ask you for permission to call you by your first (Christian) name.
Years ago of course we were brought up to show extreme respect to our elders, and everyone was given the title of Mr, Mrs or Miss. And we daren't budge from that expectation. But things have changed over the years, and of course we have learned to adapt to many of those changes quite willingly and quite comfortably.
To be given the title of Mrs or Miss or even Ms and then to be asked if one would mind being spoken to along the lines of one's first name is a little sign of etiquette that I haven't come across for a long time. But it's happening more often these days. And it's sort of nice. You are given an option of agreeing or not agreeing, and for a senior person that in itself is a form of good manners that we thought have flown out of the window with lots of other niceties that we remember.
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