I wish we as a global society could do away with titles. I speak as someone who has come from a linguistic background where grammatical gender exists only in loanwords, notably from Spanish. As someone who grew up with such a linguistic background mostly when I was young, it was a little relieving to not be reminded of my gender except in the few circumstances when they truly mattered.

I'm not a fan of the extensive use of "Mr.", "Mrs.", "sir", "ma'am" and the like. Not only can they be problematic for those with issues surrounding gender, but the very words themselves try to enforce a hierarchy, a hierarchy between the client and the individual offering the service, the teacher and the taught and so on, and implies that the individual higher up in the hierarchy is less faultless. I am also aware of "Mx." with regards to gender, but like neopronouns, I find it difficult to get used to, and "Mx." only solves the gendered problem of titles.

Not even a planned universal language like Esperanto (the most popular of them, but still spoken by comparatively few people) can help this, as it uses gendered titles and pronouns. Some languages, such as the one I've been raised with, are largely genderless, but those languages are not dominant in the number of speakers save for the possible exception of Mandarin, and all naturally developed languages carry with them a great degree of cultural baggage too. Japanese seems to have the right idea of addressing individuals by their first or preferred name by default (plus a gender neutral and familiar suffix) and avoiding "you" unless absolutely necessary, but beyond addressing familiar individuals, Japanese people are expected to abide by a complicated system of honorifics.

I do not prefer the title "comrade" widely used either, since I only really see them being used by authoritarian tankie states such as North Korea and across the Soviet Union, and that's the association that "comrade" has grown to have now, by virtue of its use in those contexts. I may prefer the title "citizen" used, but this reminds me very starkly of the French Revolution, and feels inappropriately stilted and contextualized. It'll be an inappropriate title to use too, particularly for individuals who may be visiting a foreign country. Using "customer", "visitor" or "tourist" within informal correspondence may be a more accurate title to describe such a person, but it may also be an alienating or even insulting title too, reducing the addressed individuals to their current roles. "Citizen" may also be an alienating title for those who do not subscribe to the tenets of nationalism.

Generally I don't find myself talking to people much for reasons unrelated, and for the times I do talk to people, I generally only use their first name or a name they prefer to use - the only exception to that rule has been during much of compulsory education, when I have been expected to use titles, for instance, "Mr. Johnson". I've never even used "sir" or "ma'am" to the best of my memory. I generally find using titles quite cumbersome and alienating, in that it further affirms that a more personal relationship with an individual is off-limits.

In more informal situations, I would have used "dude", as it's emblematic of the colloquial language I prefer too, but this term can be too gendered for some people, so I have effectively abandoned using this. I personally find it less gendered and more appealing than "bro", and less effort to use than "homie". Otherwise, I now generally result to using people's names. Addressing someone whose name I do not know will be more difficult though, especially to do politely as a British national and/or in a society where using titles and proper etiquette can be expected.

I wonder what's the least offensive and least hierarchical manner in which I can address people, especially for those whose names I do not know and particularly for those who may not wish to give a name, and for situations where asking for someone's name is otherwise inconvenient. I could just use "you", but I find this intimidating sometimes too and can be a little hesitant to use this. What do you think of the matter in general too?