I had a delightful chat today in an online group about Franco-Normande language roots. Yeah, etymology is pretty nerdy, but I am a bibliophile. Anyway, someone mentioned the informality with American names, and how we address one another. To this European, our former President "Jimmy" Carter seemed impossibly impolite and immature for using a boyish name, given that he's such an impressive public figure. Of course we respect our authority figures! We also use formal addresses with teachers, religious figures, political leaders, and other authority figures, as the situation dictates.
It brought me back to the brief time I had to live in a small German town for business, working in the company's atelier with the other artists and designers. Employees there used last names only, on the phone and in meetings. The head of the company is called "Herr" quite loudly, every time he is seen or greeted. It was still jarring to me a month after working there, because I had only heard it in documentaries about Nazism and Herr Hitler. My European co-workers thought it quite funny the first time they heard me greet the company president by first name. Given his rep as a ladies man, who knows what they thought of this informality between us.
Back home on U.S. soil, we hosted a German co-worker for a couple of weeks. At the time we were a mini United Nations: two gay men and a lesbian (all vocally out of the closest), a Jamaican accountant, a Puerto Rican receptionist, a book keeper from India, a Eurasian editor, and whatever nationality people think I am, which is usually French. She was charmed by our meeting round table, and the freedom with which we spoke. Since it was a very small branch of an overseas company, anyone in the office could pitch new ideas. And we called each other by first names, because it would be sheer lunacy for an open society like ours that is comprised of immigrants to keep track of every country on the planet's sometimes elaborate greeting rituals.
So, how does Consuela feature? Well, she IS our go-to symbol for cross-cultural snafus. If you're ever in doubt while travelling around our beautiful land, please know that it's more than acceptable to address an American you meet informally by their first name.
That's democracy.
