DEAR MISS MANNERS: A fellow worker at my job was trying to convince me that we should stop taking credit card numbers over the phone for security reasons. It’s quite possible that she is right, but I had to point out that I would need to talk to our boss before changing the way I do my job.
She was passionate about the issue, and kept trying to get me to agree with her without any reservations. The manners issue was that she kept calling me by my first name as a way to try to convince me of her opinion.
This has happened to me before, and it drives me crazy. I feel like a zoo animal with people tapping on the glass to get my attention. The worst is when it is done by customer service representatives who I have never even met.
Can I just say, “Please stop saying my name”? Am I oversensitive, or is there a consensus on this?
GENTLE READER: Why don’t you find out? Next time you find your name being overused, politely ask the person theirs -- both first and last. Then proceed to use it, honorific followed by surname, just as frequently as the other person does. Miss Manners assures you that your question about being overly sensitive will be answered definitively -- even if it is different each time.
(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)