In English speaking countries, what is the acceptable way to call a stranger on the street?
e.g. If you see someone walking in front of you drop a wallet, what would say to the person first?
Would you say,
"Excuse me!"
"Excuse me, sir/madam?"
"Hey, you dropped something!"
or..?
If it's a person who is older than you, would you choose a polite expression?
If it's a person who is around your age, would you choose a casual expression?
I'd like to know the psychological distance between strangers. (because in my country, people tend to be very formal)
If there aren't many other people around, I would probably just say "Excuse me" to get the person's attention.
If there are a lot of people in the area, and the person who dropped the wallet is less likely to realize that I'm talking to him/her, I would probably say "Excuse me, sir" or "Excuse me, miss" or "Excuse me, ma'am." (You should use "miss" for younger women, in their 20s or early 30s. I probably would only say "ma'am" if the woman was obviously over 40. You can also say "madam," but it's very rare to hear this word in America.)
It's also quite normal and acceptable to simply say, "Hey, you dropped something!" Unless the setting were very formal, I don't think anyone would be offended by being addressed this way.
If it was a younger adult it would be completely fine to drop the "excuse me" if you wanted to, especially if it just happened and they were still within earshot.
I come from Australia and I would say "excuse me!" This normally gets their attention. If not I add in a "ma'am" or "sir" afterward, i.e. "Excuse me! (no response) Excuse me ma'am!"
If the person is in my grandmother's or grandfather's generation I would say "excuse me ma'am" or "excuse me sir" so I suppose there is a bit of respect there.
However, in general a simple "excuse me!" will do amongst everyone here in Australia.
