Yes, sir; no, sir

I've written about my SAT students' propensity to address me as Mr Badger, rather than just calling my by my first name as my DAT and MCAT students tend to do. I'm now teaching at West Point, as well, and my students here address me as "sir". I find this a bit humorous, a bit peculiar, a bit touching, and at times a bit unsettling.

Part of my reaction relates to my feeling very much their contemporary, in spite of the fact that I'm instructing them on the MCAT, which I have taken, and they haven't. Admittedly, though, I am as old as they are plus half again, and maybe that makes me less their contemporary than I tend to feel.

There is also the sense I have that using sir when addressing an instructor or authority figure (or maybe even a civilian, based on my encounters on campus) has been all but beaten into them. I'm not sure that they always realize that they're saying it. No doubt there are some psychological or sociological observations that could be made about that.

I'm having difficulty stating why I find it a bit touching, though. Maybe if I figure that out I'll come back and leave it as a comment.