There is a fairly big cultural gap. Urban dwellers often want to be on a first-name basis with everyone, on the theory that it is friendlier and more democratic. But in the old rural traditions, superiors address subordinates by first name. So, what the speaker intends to be egalitarian, the listener may hear as quite the opposite.
My first experience with this was working as a door-to-door salesman. The boss insisted that we get the [del]sucker’s[/del] customer’s first name, and work it into the conversation as often as possible. Because if they think that you are their friend, you can screw them out of more money. That made me a bit cynical about people who demand instant intimacy.