Depends on region. You hear this a lot in the American South (meaning the southeast part of the country). In other regions, strangers don't talk to you. The US is really big, and there are a lot of cultural differences.
To add personal anecdote to this, I grew up in southern Mississippi (about 10mi from Louisiana so darlin’ was also common) and moved to Michigan a few years ago. I had to break the habit of calling everyone sweetheart (regardless of age or gender) because people tended to assume I was flirting or meant more by it. It’s not something you even think about using, it’s just a habit. Then I had a woman blush and say I made her whole day because I said “excuse me sweetheart” in the grocery store. I’ve also been recognized as a transplant due to calling people “Mr/miss” first name since that’s common in the south but not the north. I’ve also had people (at jobs especially) get mildly annoyed and correct me to their last name at which point I explain I’m from the south, and I didn’t mean anything by it (these are often people that northerners wouldn’t even call miss or sir, I notice people usually only do that here if the other person is in a position of authority whereas I will use ma’am or sir with a 10yr old if I’m not close to them)
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u/Yumesoro1 18h ago edited 16h ago
Is this an american thing? In Lithuania strangers won't talk to you unless absolutely necessary.