Does being addressed as "sir" please or offend you?

This is inspired by the corresponding thread under Women-Focused Support:

Does being sirred, being addressed as "sir", please or offend you?

Just for fun, does being addressed as "mister"--without the family name--please or offend you?

No, it doesn't bother me, but it makes me feel old sometimes.

Truthfully, I kind of like it. I've always addressed people with Sir or Ma'am as a sign of respect, even the little kids that I coach. Although an 8-year-old often doesn't know how to react when you say, "Yes Sir, you go right ahead."

Technically it should be Master which is what Mr. is the abbrieviation for, and the same with the female Mrs./Miss. which sould be Mistress.

Being addressed as Sir is just polite in a formal situation, and/or as a mark of respect.

I'd much rather somebody said "Excuse me Sir", rather than "Excuse me 'mister'" as the latter is actually quite rude.

I was a military brat, so "sir" used to make me think "You must have me confused with my dad." As I get older, it doesn't bother me, and in some cases I require it. When I used to teach, I told the kids to address me as 'sir' or use the Mr. It seems, however, to be a trend to address teachers by using the Mr., Mrs., or Ms. followed by their first name, and one kid asked me on the first day of class what my first name was, to which I replied, "Mister. My first name is mister." For the rest of the semester, I was Mr. Mister.

Sometimes insanity is a perfectly sane reaction to an insane situation.

RichardBrooks, I too was a military brat, and my dad was an officer. I was enlisted. It takes some getting used to being called sir, but it is a sign of respect, and I don't have a problem with it now.

Personally I dont mind. Anything is better than hey you. Lol

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I hate being called "sir"

It doesn't bother me; but with a high-pitched voice that I have, sure beats the heck out of being called ma'am over the phone

Lol, gossiping about what the Women talk about

I don't like it when Indian's on the phone do it. They say it to everyone, you know they don't mean it, lol. Seriously, Sir should be reserved for those that actually know you and respect you. If some random squirrel said to me "Excuse me, Sir", i'd probably raise an eyebrow, pause, and ask, what's your name, nutty?

I really don't appreciate false niceties or small talk.
Even if I was the manager of a business, i'd get the employees to call me by my name. (I know about business boundaries and that, yes)

I once called a guy, Sir, on a support forum, years ago, he nearly started having a go at me, lol. Dude was 49, and I was 17. What else was I suppose to say?

Sir, makes me suspicious, slightly offensive, but wouldn't bother me.

Yes, I'm not that old

I would expect 'Sir' would be a term of respect.
So I would not mind.

I've got to admit, I don't like it, since I'm a young guy, and it's especially so when somebody who is my age or older says it to me. Sometimes I even pick up the tone of hatred or "forced respect" from another guy. Sometimes people say it sarcastically.

I remember this happening when I was tutoring a class at university. The students are in the age range 19-21 and I was 24 at the time. Some of the students are repeaters or have come over from another course and are older, maybe even my age or older. And, you can spot them, because they seem disintegrated with the rest of the class (the younger students). Many of them harbour real bitterness toward the lecturers because they feel the system has failed them somehow, or they feel they have lost years/money they cannot get back, I don't know. They are always very critical and often question your teaching style, or ask you loaded questions about the course content. Also, being in South Africa (11 official languages), many courses are dual-language and many so-called non-English speaking students (who speak very good English by the way, and who all have English friends) have now, with great success mind you, been able to get away with using this as an excuse for low grades, when the class was presented in English. Anyway, so there were many of these students present in my class and I remember one of them calling me "sir". I immediately felt disrespected, because the guy looked to be my age or older. I immediately picked up his hostile intent with the word and I realised what he was trying to say, he was trying to say to me "Who the hell do you think you are? You're nothing but a student yourself, now I'm forced to respect you, just because you are presenting the class, and I bet you think you're better than me, just because I've failed or changed course and have to sit here with little 20 year olds". Of course non of this is true, I'm on no power trip, but the implication that I had been was very hurtful, and can make you even want to quit. The projected resentment and hate is very real and is conveyed with this one little three letter word. I said to him "please don't call me that, use my first name".

I guess what I'm trying to say is it's all about the person's intent. Sometimes it can be great and the respect is real, but in my case, the addressing of me as "sir" was very hurtful and disrespectful, because it was intended to bring me down from a power trip that he thought I was on, because of his own perceptions and prejudices about teachers/lecturers. And, not once did I ever give any indication to any of the students that I was that way inclined, because all the other students gave me very good reviews and some even unexpectedly came and thanked me personally for the good job I did, their words not mine.