Originally Posted by technical_bob

I'd rather not be addressed by first name (what is so hard about "sir"?), but I'd take it over "guys", "pal" or "bud". Being asked though, that's the worst of all, because it puts you on the spot and forces you to either accept it or say to someone "No, you may call me sir" which doesn't really sound good from anyone's lips. I guess the best I can do is to respond "Let's just stick to last names, eh?".

For what it's worth, I'm young-ish and also a raging socialist, and this really isn't about wanting people to bow and scrape, it's just about recognising the distance in the relationship and avoiding phoney familiarity.