Worked in Atlanta for almost a year and lots of business in Knoxville and Chattanooga.
I just can’t picture the miscreants he encountered as being suave southern gentlemen.
Every Southern child of any upbringing whatsoever hears adults called "sir" and "ma'am" by other children and adults of every station in life as soon as they go out in public. It's part of the culture, even if their own parents didn't teach or expect it. Much of the US military comes from the South or serves in the South, and those honorifics are expected of them. My family was working class, and it was required in our house of both boys and girls.