Salutations

Our society has become very lax when it comes to respect of others. Decades ago you would never call an elder that was not close to you by their first name. They were Mr. or Mrs. As time moved on our attitudes began to loosen up and first names became the norm. In the South, they use first names but add a salutation in front of them to show respect. Miss Jane or Mr. John is used rather than just Jane or John. I like that. Other cultures, especially Asian ones, are still more formal. I did a lecture Monday night and gave out my business card. It had my first name and last name on it. One of the people that attended the talk was a young Asian man in his mid twenties. He emailed me to ask a question. He started the email with Dear Mrs. (First Name Last Name). In his culture, a teacher is highly respected and is referred to as such. It looked a bit funny to see someone write to me as Dear Mrs. but it made me think. If we showed more respect to each other maybe society would be a bit kinder.