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[quote=Anonymous]This is very interesting cultural phenomena.  I am Indian. We grew up calling our teachers  sirs and ma'ams in India.  This later translated to our professional life where we automatically referred to people who were senior to us (in rank, designation or age) similarly.   My children call their teachers here Mr./Miss/Ms. Lastname.

In India, it was common for us to call our parent's adult friends and our neighbors as "uncles" and "aunties". Unmarried people who were older than us, (like the children of the said "uncles and aunties") were called the Hindi equivalent of "elder brother" and "elder sister".   That was a part of teaching us good manners and proper way of addressing people .  It was seen as being polite.

My children who were born here address our American neighbors as Mr. or Mrs. Lastname, but they refer to all our friends who are Indians as "Firstname uncle" and "Firstname aunty".

When I hear my southern neighbors kids refer to me as "Miss MyFirstName" and answer "Yes Ma'am" - I think of them as children who were taught good manners by their parents. I understand that they are being polite.  I do not think of them as being slavelike or being deferential.  This is politeness and it does not mean that they necessarily respect me.

Policemen usually call everyone ma'am and sir. They are not being deferential. They are being polite. Politeness sets a tone for civil interaction.

I have commented to many kids here not to call me by firstname. They can either call me "Mrs. Lastname" or call me "MyChildren's Mom".

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