He calls his boss Dr. Smith…

My friend put me on hold one day this week. Instead of getting elevator music, I got cell phone on the desk sounds, including him answering the phone by calling his boss Dr. Smith. He came back to the phone needing to answer why the heck he was calling his direct boss Dr. Why not use her first name? Where was Dr. Coming from?

Apparently using the first name just doesn’t feel right for Playboy. I had to ask if he felt like a kid in the classroom every day at work as part of this relationship. He didn’t feel as badly as I was making it out. He did respect me questioning the situation as it is not the most common in a much more relaxed everyday business environment. It definitely took me some getting used to as a 22 year old new hire when speaking with the head of the Detroit office, who I worked with every day.

This also led us to discuss when you move from calling your significant others’ parents by their first names, and when you move to calling them mom and dad, if you ever do. We have both moved to calling ours by their first names now, but independently we both hesitated with this and were more comfortable in the Mr. and Mrs. environment our parents had taught us. We both succumbed to the request of the elders and have gone first name now. I joked that now that my friend is married and has provided the grandchild, he can move into mom and dad territory. This isn’t something he has ruled out but only six months into the grandchild era, he is not there yet.

So what puts you there? Ten years of marriage? Two grandchildren? In laws exceeding 60 years old? There have to be different factors for everyone. How about at work? How long are you sticking with calling your co-workers or boss Dr. or Mr. or Mrs.?

Quick hits of the day:

– congrats to the Saints! Sean Payton has a ton of guts.

– saw Dancing on Ice for the firsat time this season in the UK. Glad to catch it again. Torville and Dean are genius and welcome to my TV viewing just before the Olympics.

– Pub lunches = pretty solid

– working from a couch the day after the Super Bowl is a welcome treat.

Goodnight and God Bless,

Scott