You see, Mrs. Higgins, apart from the things one can pick up, the difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she is treated. I shall always be a common flower girl to Professor Higgins, because he always treats me like a common flower girl, and always will. But I know that I shall always be a lady to Colonel Pickering, because he always treats me like a lady, and always will. — My Fair Lady

At some level, all people deserve respect.  One of the failings of the world right now is the way that being respectful and polite to everyone, king or pauper, has become the exception, not the rule.  I don’t see this as a Southern/Northern thing, or a young/old issue.  I’ve been called “Sir” and thanked in Minneapolis and been disrespected in Atlanta.  I think it’s more of a “raised right” versus “feral” issue.  I learned my manners from the back of my grandmother’s wooden spoon.  It wasn’t abuse; it was correction. So far, I haven’t had to resort to such things with my own children, probably because of Irish Woman’s influence on them, but I will never stop trying to get my hellions to show respect for the people they meet.