Am I a bit prim and out of kilter with modern manners?
We have just completed the sale of a relative's house. When it went on the market I met the estate agent only a couple of times, he dealt with the viewings and rang up from time to time with progress reports. From the start he called me by my first name, I'm old enough to be his mother.
Today an email arrived from a professional body acknowledging my contribution to a forthcoming consultation which I had sent by a formal email (near the deadline so no time to send a letter). The salutation on the acknowledgement was: 'Morning' - followed by my first name. Not exactly a professional response to my formal email. The sender had a unisex first name with no indication as to his/her gender.
When my first granddaughter was born 15 years ago I asked my neighbour who would then have been about 50 how she wanted GD1 to address her (she said first names). My lovely neighbours on the other side moved in three years ago, their daughter now aged 5 called DH and me by first names right from the start without asking first. We would have agreed to first names but it would have been nice to have been asked.
In some countries formality is observed until one party suggests informality. Sometimes I feel patronised by this familiar approach - how do other grans feel?
Army horses loose on London streets