I Have Always Been Sir

I was watching Scrubs the other week - I think it was the episode "My Big Brother" - and it started with that obiquitous t.v. moment where two guys are out, a young clerk calls them "Sir" and they get all freaked out about getting older.

I've seen this device in sitcoms forever (I specifically recall seeing it in an episode of Dave's World, if you can believe that). Here's the problem: I am not an old man, and I have been "sir" as long as I can remember.


I'm not "sir" everywhere. I'm "honey" or "sweetie" in Mexican restaurants (the good ones, anyway). In New York, I was refreshed slash disoriented to hear people call me "boss." In a Walsh bar everyone is "chet," and here I'll get an occasional "buddy." My old roommate in Wales always called me "mate," which I was so impressed with as a non-judgemental, semi-respectful, semi-casual way to refer to another man with whom one has an non-hostile but undefined relationship that I now call almost everyone "mate."

Most of the time, and as far back as maybe 13, people in stores or restaurants have called me "sir." It's been going on so long that I never realized T.V. believed I needed to freak out about it.

Have I been 38 for my entire life? Is it some crazy race thing? What the hell is going on?