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@eiko2010: "to me, to have to call your Dad Sir just sounds intimidating and cold"

Yes, this is exactly how I feel but was having trouble articulating. It sounds intimidating and impersonal, like the kids have been frightened into acting on their best behavior. @mediagirl: Maybe we can include the Midwest along with the South as a region where this is culturally common, but, what I'm saying is that outside of those regions, it comes off as very startling, like something you'd see in a movie about really super-strict parents. Cultural variations across regions are fascinating!

In Canada we don't use Sir or Ma'am. It always throws me a little when I'm in the U.S. and people call me Ma'am, but at the same time I find it really quite friendly when U.S. strangers do it. I would find it very odd for people I knew to call me that though. It just seems too formal for people you know well -- keeping in mind that it isn't a part of the culture I live in and I'm not used to it.