I almost always call my doctors “doc.” I had one surgeon I always greeted with “What’s up, doc?” She was in stitches the whole time! I think it comes down to respect: you don’t have to speak formally and be serious all the time in order to show respect, just act like you believe the professional in question knows what they’re talking about.
I agree with LaurAnge however, that some occupations demand professionalism 100% of the time. GWB is THE leader of the most powerful country on the planet right now. He is our spokesman. If he carries himself like an ass/bumpkin/hick, and he’s supposed to be the best of us, what message is he sending to the rest of the world about us 'Merkins? Doc? Nucular? Good Riddance? Very professional.
I have to agree with the OP. While there isn’t anything wrong with calling a doctor “doc” it does sound bumkinesque coming out of the presidents mouth.
Call them doctors in public. It’s not that much harder.
Why would Bush not want to sound like a folksey Texan? Isn’t that a basic part of his image? Just because you don’t want a folksey Texan as President doesn’t change that.
I work in customer service. And if I’ve got to send a customer to someone more senior than me, when I refer to that senior person, I refer to them as “Ms.” or “Mr.” because the customer doesn’t know the person I’m sending them to. I’m basically “presenting” my supervisor to them, and to get the point across to the customer that the person they’ll be dealing with is someone that they should listen to and respect, I refer to them in a respectful manner.
Because Bush was presenting these people to us, the nation, he should have referred to them in a manner that indicated that he respected them as well. Which, to me, would mean “doctor,” not “doc.”
It was too informal for that particular situation. I’m sure that his mother taught him better manners than that.
On a personal level, it has been only within the last couple of years (out of 18) that I have felt comfortable enough to call my physician “Doc.” In that particular situation, it is intended as a compliment and I think he takes it as such. In another twenty years, I will call him by his first name.
So say you. The difference between you and GW however is that he has the political savvy to have been successfully elected POTUS and you have not.
The message is not aimed at you. It is not aimed at the rest of world, who GW has clearly shown he does not give a rats about. It is aimed at the unwashed masses. There are more of them than there are of you. And the message he is sending is “re-elect me”.
