"Hey bud . . ."

What's happened with addressing people you don't know? Are people just unsure of how to address someone these days?

These seem to be the popular greetings these days:

• "Hey bud . . ." (my name is not "Bud")
• "Hey brother . . ." (you're not my brother, I don't have a brother)
• "Hey bro . . ." (see comment in parenthesis above)
  
• "Hey man . . ." (yes, I am a man)
• " " (just starting talking to me, especially when not looking me in the eye is not effective)

What's amazing is how we seem to have lost the simple fallbacks of "sir" and "ma'am". To be clear: this hasn't been lost in some states in the South or by some customer service organizations, but, in general, it seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Further, you are very (very) unlikely to upset me (or any other man) by defaulting to "sir".

If all I did was make you pay attention to this and to think about your interactions, then, dude, I declare this mission complete.

Polite doesn't cost a thing.