"If it be a sin to covet honor, I am the most offending soul."
~William Shakespeare~
Too much familiarity too soon with people we are just meeting is uncomfortable. A certain level of propriety, at least for the first few minutes, is appropriate, and appreciated.
I don't like my waiter to sit down at the table with me to take my order and then call me sweetie and act like we are best friends. And I don't want people to create nick-names for me, or to tease me, before they even know who I am. These types of liberties, though they reflect our increasingly casual culture, feel like violations of an unspoken social contract.
Let's be respectful and proper and polite upon meeting people, and save our jibes and endearments for when we know each other better and have earned the right to be so familiar.
I am sensitive to personal boundaries and the dignity of unfamiliar people and maintain a level of decorum as we interact. I am not so casual that I forget to be respectful.
