Don't call me sir!

A friend of my daughter stopped over tonight with her - one I had never met before. He seemed nice, but rather nervous. Which was strange, since there is no relationship between them (her boyfriend would murderize him if there were!) so there was no reason for any kind of trepidation.
When they left, he called "Nice to meet you, sir!"
I had to holler after them to "Don't call me sir!"
And then I wondered about that.
Formerly, men who reached my age accepted the moniker of 'sir' with grace and dignity. Like they had finally grown into the respectful salute this implies.
So why do I (and, I assume, most males of my generation) find some problem with being addressed as such?
It has to be part of the generation we grew up in: be young, don't be part of the 'establishment', etc.
I think I have to get over this, but at least some of the younger folk still adhere to the time respected norms. Good job, Adam...it is me that has a problem, here.

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In other events, I had an interview today for the part time position I posted about earlier.
One word: grueling.
And, to be accepted, I have to go through at least a second interview, plus the urine test plus any other things they think up along the way to deter me from working there. I had to call Scee Elle immediately afterwards and do a primal scream in her ear just to get over it. Sorry about that, Scee, but it seemed necessary at the time!
It must be a good company, since they make it so difficult to get in there. So, I may have a new career looming far away from the world of computers, networks and whiny users! Whoo-Hoo!