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This trend has been going on for years. Authority figures were always treated with respect. Manners were taught to you in school and at home. Somehow, we've lost the concept that manners are an obvious sign of respect for someone.
As a child, teachers were ALWAYS Mr., Mrs., or Miss. Flash forward a few years, when I was coaching a middle school basketball team. One day, one of my players walked out of his grade 8 English class to speak to me. I asked him if Thelma (his teacher, who had also taught me grade 8 English, and who was ALWAYS Mrs. Kolding to me!) allowed him to just walk out like that. Fascinated to know her first name, he walked over to the door, stuck his head in and yelled, "Thelma!". She looked up and calmly asked "Yes?". He turned to me and grinned. I would have spent time in the principal's office for such an offense, a mere 5 years earlier. But by then it was accepted.
It is also reflected in North American (well, Canadian) French. The French have a formal mode of speaking, using the pronoun VOUS for a single, respected person. The use of VOUS as a sign of respect is referred to as "vousvoyer-ing" someone. VOUS is also the plural form of you, which in the singular is TU. Using TU to refer to someone is "tutoyer-ing" them, and indicates a MUCH greater degree of familiarity with that person.
My children, whose mother tongue is French, actually do not believe that VOUS can be used in the singular, as a sign of respect. And this is the norm now. The obvious signs of respect are disappearing everywhere and in every language. Japanese and Chinese elders complain of the lack of respect they get from the younger generations.
Somehow, I think this bodes ill for our entire society.
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The secret to great marksmanship is deciding what the target was AFTER you've shot.
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