I have been brought up to call adults by their last names. Mr. Smith, Mrs.Jones, Mr. Pedraza. All that. Through the years there have been numerous adults who urge me to call them by:
a. Their first names
b. Their first names preceded by an honorific (Mr., Mrs., Aunt, Dr.)
c. Something else
It’s generally A. When adults choose route A, I blame dad and say “I would if I could, but Dad likes me to call grown-ups by their last names” After this, adults choose one of the following options :
a. Oh your dad’s soft in the head! Call me Jane/Bob/Pedro any time you like!
b. It makes me feel old.
c. Well then call me ‘Aunt’ Jane/ ‘Mister’ Bob/ ‘Tio’ Pedro!
d. Well isn’t that nice! They sure brought you up right didn’t they?
Actually, B is usually appended to all four of these options. When adults choose D, it’s a great relief. I don’t have to go through the whole trouble of calling them by their last names, then being told to call them by their first names half a dozen times. Plus, if I do happen to call them by their first names when Dad is around, trouble is sure to come. 😉
When grown-ups urge me to call them by their first names with an honorific, I find it very difficult to do so. If you called someone Señor Pedro or even Don Pedro all your life, how could you switch to Tio Pedro?
Exceptions:
- Miss Turbone, who is really Mr. Bone, is called Miss Turbone because of an unfortunate read aloud in the second grade.
- Young adults, or those of you who are within ten years of my age.
- Troy and Youngin are more than ten years older than me, but it doesn’t feel like they are so I’m very conflicted about that.
- Blog commenters… Ruthie, can I call you Mrs. R?
- Workers (our preachers). When we were little we used to call them Uncle and Aunt, but it feels kind of strange now. I’m kind of unsure about everyone but Lyle. Lyle is Lyle.
Random things:
One thing that seriously annoys me: Kids and teenagers that call my parents (or any adult, but mostly my parents) by their first names. I don’t know if it actually annoys you adults, but it really gets on my nerves. I know it’s self righteous of me. But seriously. It doesn’t even sound real when they say it, and to me it’s incredibly rude.
When I’m unsure what to call an adult, whether it be what last name to use, what title to use, or how to address them. I avoid awkward situations by not calling adults by any name at all! It’s quite simple. You just avoid addressing them, and use general hellos, how-do-you-do’s, and goodbyes.
So there you go!
I got pretty well hammered, maybe justifiably, in the comments yesterday on the post about the evils of Facebook and Twitter. I got more when I got home and talked to my family about it. I was sticking to my guns, but then the mail came and it had a FREE T-SHIRT from something Christian signed up for on