I've got to agree with homer. There are still those who hanker for formality because it reminds them of a golden era that never really existed, when people who minded their Ps and Qs, all knew their 12 times table and spoke fluent Latin, and this sounds like a classic case. The lines are much more blurred these days, thankfully. For instance, would you be happier buying a computer from a man in an open-necked shirt and a beard or a spotty youth in a superstore wearing a loud Bart Simpson tie?