Why do they address people with "sir" so often?

Why do they address people with "sir" so often?
Is it because of a cultural norm of theirs or is it because they like to come off as polite?

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It's mostly a cultural norm. Sorta a politeness thing too in the service industry. Calling people sir and maam was also pretty common over here and in Europe before politeness and morality went down the shitter

I don't get it, how do you politely address strangers then? What about Euros?

Poles call each other sir/lady (pan/pani) too, but not in engl*sh

I agree with you that sir is the best way to address strangers, it's just that nobody here does it because Americans have very little basic respect for one another.

Would be great if we had this

by smiling and talking with a polite inflection. no reason to call anyone sir unless they're a superior at work and demand that you do so.

They only do it in English. Might be a clue.

There are many equivalents in other Indian languages too, but you obviously wouldn't know

>by smiling and talking with a polite inflection
Nobody here does that anyway

In the south people still say sir or maam but not as much as Indians

you live in a shithole, then. probably l*s ang*les. the vast majority of conversations that i have with strangers are polite.

Yeah but how would call someone if you had to? Like say, you saw someone drop their wallet and you had to return it to them, how would call them?
We use the formal or semi formal form of the language.

>not as much as Indians
seems subjective, but tbqh it makes sense that southerners retained some amount of respect and politeness. I've been to India several times and I've only heard sir/maam thrown around occasionally. I think it's an internet meme at this point

I live in the midwest, and I've been to both coasts. Most Americans are retarded and arrogant its a fact

no, it's not a fact. can't remember the last time i had an unpleasant conversation with a stranger.

It's not a meme.
Some people even go as far as "Sir ji" for the extra politeness (Ji=honorific).

It's not about unpleasant convos, it's just a basic level of mutual respect. Most people don't talk to each other at all or have much social cohesion. So when they see another culture use honorifics and politeness in every day speak, it's a culture shock. Except I don't see how it makes sense to clown Indians for using basic manners that existed in America a few generations ago.
The nicest people in America by far are the boomers who have way more in common with your average Indian, whereas zoomers and millennials are socially retarded and autistic

No Indians place way more respect to elders than even southerners. Even if they don't use english, they'll just use honorifics like -ji, -sahab, etc in their own language for casual stuff. I've only seen southerners use sir for work and some people, especially women, get offended if you call them maam

you're completely backwards. every fight i've ever had in public with a stranger was with a boomer. and they're the only people i've ever seen walking around visibly drunk in public.

Ji is the equivalent in Hindi
Most Indian languages have polite honorifics. Sir/Ma'am are okay substitutes

>respect to elders
Based. Not that we should worship old people and boomers, but I feel as though America has gone too far in the opposite direction.
In my experience, old people are delighted when I call them sir or maam. I honestly think the practice of referring to people with honorifics is a pre-globohomo thing, and as a culture becomes more globalized it becomes less common (Japan being an exception). It could also be an east vs west thing

>drunk in public.
sovl

Strange elders don't get "Sir/Ma'am". They get "Uncle/Auntie".

not at all, they get belligerent and start threatening you and pretending that they used to be in the Marines. their generation thinks that nothing bad can happen to them which is good because when it does it will overwhelm their body with shock.

I don't know about India but we have a "sir" equivalent in local dialect. how do westerners politely address a customer? isn't it "dear sir/madam" or has it turned into "xi, xir/xa'am" now?

It's not about assuming the wrong gender at least where I live. Some people get offended when they're called sir/maam because you're calling them old. Boomers don't care much but it strikes a nerve with some middle aged lady or younger