Quote:
Originally Posted by desertgrandma
This is so unimportant but I either vent or explode.
Why do banks and retail stores train their associates to call customers by their first name? I find it extremely annoying and want to slap the crap outta them.
Today at the drive up window a 22 year old young man actually said to me....."Thanks for you business, Donna, and have a nice day."
Excuse me. I'm over 60, I don't know you, and common courtesy dictates you address people you don't know, in a business establishment by Mr, Mrs, or, God Forbid, Ms. if you must.
Especially if you're still wet behind the ears.
'sigh.
Dang young whippersnappers.
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No, it IS important, DG. But what can I say here? I'm one of the cashiers trained to call customers by their first names! I don't know what the logic is, other than I suppose it's to demonstrate friendliness. I was raised Southern. Southern manners are as you describe, you address people as Mr. or Mrs. But then the feminists came along and corrupted Mrs. to Ms. Then the younger people (30's and 40's) started being obsessed by youthfulness and felt that Mrs. and Mr. sounded "too old". I've been yelled at for everything EXCEPT calling someone by their first name. No matter how hard I try, I can't read minds, and I don't know how each individual customer prefers to be addressed. I don't usually have time to actually ask each customer, either, so I'm basically darned if I do, and darned if I don't!
Sorry, DG, I sympathize, I really do - but I don't know how to fix the problem from either end, unless everyone gets into the habit of announcing their personal preferences about how they want to be addressed as soon as they start patronizing a place of business. And even then, we see so many people in a day, I'd never remember how each person wanted to be addressed.