I'm not all that put off unless someone I don't know uses my first name. I'm a bit less put off if I already know their first name. For example, if they are wearing a name tag or introduced themselves, such as in the case of wait staff, "Hello, my name is John, and I will be your server this evening."
If "John" hands me my credit card back and calls me by my first name, I'm cool with that, because, hey, it's John, not "some guy."
I'm completely fine with people calling me "Mr. [Surname]." It doesn't matter whether I offered them my surname or whether I know theirs. They're using the "Mister" honorific and my surname, which happens to be my family name. Since I'm seldom with family members, I tend to be the only one with my surname in any given place, so there's that as well.
No one can ever go wrong with calling me "Mr. [Surname]." I suppose "sir" works fine, but it's less personal. I guess it's better to use the latter if I'm being addressed a number of times over a short period.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
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