Do you HATE using the words Sir or Mam?

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Not even. I know an ex-navy guy and another guy who's currently in the air force and they've never expressed any desire for me to address than by anything other their first name.

The retired navy technician might expect me to address him as sir if both of us were on active duty. I don't know for certain since I only know him from his civilian life.

Boses in Australia are usually addressed by first name. Occasionally cops will want to be addressed as sir, but only the most self-important cops (probably the result of even the lowest cop being called a police officer (a term they never fail to use even when the rest of their speech consists largely of slang).

I understand this is quite the reverse of the US, wherein cops address civilians as sir.

I was raised to address police officers as "sir," as a way of showing respect and a way to (hopefully) keep a potentially power-tripping or angry cop from getting nasty if they've pulled you over for speeding or something. I believe my parents explained it as an issue of good manners, and my brothers (both older than I) as a way to mitigate what's likely an already-ugly situation!

i address them as "officer." many ex-military here end up in constabularies large and small. as such, at least a few may at least silently react as "don't call me 'sir,' i work for a living!"

Despite how ultra-polite us Brits are stereotyped to be, it's uncommon here, too. In "ranked" professions such as the military they're still there, but the rest of the time they have some weird class connotations that you have to negotiate. Between working class folks, and most middle-class folks, they're generally not expected.

In everyday speech they're often seen as too formal and deferent, and it's not unusual to hear them used ironically towards someone who's being a bit arrogant, bossy, or pretentious - "oh, isn't sir all la-di-da and posh" kind of thing. In a five-star hotel or restaurant, you would expect it, and more so from service staff of an older generation and in some immigrant communities, but most folks would think nothing of it when they're not used. I've not heard of them used by schoolkids to teachers for a long time, either.

On the other hand, here in Yorkshire, you'd better get used to being called "love" rather a lot. It's more often by women or when addressing women, and "feller" is commonly used towards men; but for many speakers, whatever their gender, "love" is completely neutral.

And a bit further south, you'll probably get called "duck" quite a lot.

Not really. I use them all the time when I don't know a person's name. And it feels weird to me call a person by their name if I don't know them too well. I find it weird when people call me "m'am".