CTLAWYER,
“Last Tuesday morning I had a Doctor’s appointment. A twenty something female came into the waiting room and called out my first name. I ignored her, After 4 attempts, she went back into the office and told the manager that Mister Y isn’t here.”
I agree with you regarding younger people referring to their elders by title or a more formal name. That is how I was raised, and I remember feeling uncomfortable when friends’ parents would invite me to call them by their first names, and I would continue to call them Mr or Mrs So-and-so. In this case, however, I feel your response to the receptionist was rather ungracious. She may well have been trained to use first names to develop a rapport with patients in order to help them feel at ease. She certainly intended no disrespect and was simply trying to do her job. Even if it was rude, two rudes do not make a polite, and forcing her to make four attempts to get you back into the exam room made everyone’s wait to be seen longer. And it garnered her a public reprimand which may have soured her day. If what you are called is that important to you, make sure it is on your chart and politely point it out if it is missed.