tha ways in which we address one another reflect how well we know one another or should. some of us seem to know one another too well.
CROWDEDNESS,IN CASE you haven't noticed , changes manners. not only has the population of the world in creased manyfold during my lifetime , but the felt presence of other people has grown in a similarly exponential way.
in the human world . seems to me that the feeling of living among growing millions of others has produced alteration in the way we address one another. more nicknames , fewer honorifics , unwarranted endearments. to try to salvage a sense of human intimacy in a quik-contact world , a certain overfamiliarity is setting in.
it must be remembered that our names are important, perhaps now more than ever . they label us; they distinguish us; they present us to other . before you know much at all about astranger , you know the stranger's name. though generally assigned at birth , before much personality is present , a name can in a weird sort of way come to express the essence of its owners.