is just a flower.
So, what's your name? You do remember it, right? Got it? Are you sure?
OK, now just chuck it out the window. Names are not so important here, titles are. When you address people face-to-face, you often use a title which expresses your relationship to that person. Doctor, Nurse, Teacher, Customer, Professor, even Supervisor, Area Manager and Company President. Could you imagine what some IBM blue suit would do if you just said, "Good morning, Company President."?.
I used to get offended when students didn't use my name: "Hey, Teacher. Good morning!". Then I opened my eyes and ears and realized that Japanese teachers were addressed in the same way. "Sensei" is used for doctors, professors, crazy karate instructors in the States, et al. Unless they have a reason to know your name, you will be called "Kyaku-san" at shops. Hell, even freshly-arrested folk have "the Accused" tacked on after their surname, and convicted criminals have a different suffix.
My kids call me 'Daddy'. So do all the neighborhood kids. And most of their moms, too. Makes me wish I had had my kids call me "Daddy-O". Then the whole neighborhood would sound like a bunch of beatniks:
"Good morning, Daddy-O!"
Righteous!
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