I don't just mean aunts and uncles. Friends' parents, for instance. Over here you'd just call them by their first name, whereas Bloke STILL calls his friends' parents Mr. and Mrs.

We called my dad's friends from high school in Texas by their first names and his friends who were fellow teachers "Mr./Mrs./Miss". If I remember correctly, my mom's friends we called by just their first names. My three youngest aunts and uncle we always called by just their first names because they are way closer in age to us then my parents.

I'm just "Lisa" to most of my friends' kids but "Aunt Lisa" to my best friend's twins here. But we have a much closer relationship. I love being "Aunt" to them and to my blood-related neices.

I think exercise is a fake moral issue in the US. More of it wouldn't fix anything psychologically. Either the bar would shift up in tandem with increased exercise, or the issue would shift to somewhere else.

Honestly, if you don't like exercise, more of it can be pointless to the psyche.

In Jamaica kids don't call adults by first names. That's a social indicator of equality.

I actually avoid calling my friends' parents anything at all when I can, just because this particular issue can be so annoying. I grew up calling adults by their first names, so the Mr./Mrs. thing feels awkward to me, but then again calling a friend's parents by their first names when that friend would never do so also feels awkward.

It's like the pop/soda thing, I think. Neither one of them will ever feel quite right to me.

Does anyone think it's weird if little kids call grown-ups by their first names?

What brenda said about the south. All of my friends' parents? Miss Emily, Miss Kay, Miss Judy, Mr. Dave, Mr. Doug, Mr. Paul.

'Sjust how it is.

'Sjust how it is.

See, I like that. It's a nice intermediate step, between people-I-don't-know-well and social equals. I think we called one of my teachers Mr. Dan.

I actually avoid calling my friends' parents anything at all when I can, just because this particular issue can be so annoying.

This is what I'm like when I visit Boston now. I have to ask Greg what I should be calling people befroe I meet them, and sometimes he's not even sure. So much uncertainty!

I went to a camp as a kid that got around the first name thing with a pretty good solution. All staff chose bird names, and kept them year after year. In time, I grew up and became staff.

I still answer to "NeNe".

I was Mercedes and my cabinmate was Pochahontas, or "Pokey." She actually became a pretty good friend, and when talking about her my friends call her Pokey-Kelly.

FtR, my chiropractor prefers 'Dr. Mike' to 'Dr. Santipadri'. And I grew up with honorific aunts and uncles.

I think exercise is a fake moral issue in the US. More of it wouldn't fix anything psychologically.

Isnt't that the author's point, that we have this myth in the US that exercise helps with self-esteem?

Does anyone think it's weird if little kids call grown-ups by their first names?

yes, I do. I was raised to never call anyone by their first name until invited to do so. Of course, I was raised in a military environment, so no one used first names, ever (my dad's BFF was Smitty). My bro is raising his daughter to call his friends Mr. or Ms. [firstname], which I like. It's respectful, but still connotes a closeness.

I actually avoid calling my friends' parents anything at all when I can, just because this particular issue can be so annoying.

yes, this. Especially now that we're all adults. It's awkward. My BFF's parents are Mom and Dad [last name]. My close friends have a nicknames of sorts for my parents. If I meet a friend's parents now, I say, nice to meet you Mr or Mrs [lastname].

Sometimes this causes problems because some people don't know I'm waiting for an invitation to call them by their first name, and instead think that I'm either distancing myself, or that I'm younger than I am.