In addition to sitting right behind the FoxNewsLounge here in the office I'm also very near to the front reception area which lies directly to its right, and so get to listen to a lot of interaction between high-powered business types and the receptionists. Resulting from that, here's an observation, which you can easily apply to similar situations as well... using a person's first name seems nice & thoughtful at first (i.e., "Good morning, Josephine!" or "Hi Josephine, do you know where I could find a fax machine?") but starts to sound rather condescending if done repeatedly (i.e., "Good morning, Josephine! Josephine, could you tell me where conference room 240 is? Thanks so much, Josephine.") But the funny thing which really blows the smooth and charming facade of the monkey-suit who just delivered that last quote moments ago? Her name's Marian.