>>>>Back in the early 90s I couldn't make myself understood in Boston bars if I said, "Could I have a beer, please?".
>>>>
>>>>Eventually I realised I'd have to say "Can I get a beerrrrrrrr?" in order to get served.
>>>>
>>>>Recently, since I've been going to a local sandwich shop near work, I've noticed more and more Brits saying, "Can I get ..." (of course, often without the "please" on the end). This is coupled with a recent survey I heard that fewer and fewer (or "less and less" as even the newsreaders are saying) British people are bothering to say "please" nowadays.
>>>>
>>>>BTW The dialogue of serving staff in the UK has changed over the last several years from the British, "Who's next please?" to the US "Can I help?".
>>>>Generally I don't need any help in a shop - just need someone to serve me.
>>>>
>>>>OK USA - we surrender.
>>>
>>>Next thing you will hear "sure" or "yeap" instead of "you are welcome". Yeap to American English {g}.
>>
>>The phrase is not "Can I help?". It is "May I help you" and is pronounced, "Melpya?" :))
>
>The distinction between "May I" and "Can I", which generations of parents and teachers have striven to drum into kids, has long ago been obscured. Why, my eldest was wont to say "Please may you get me a glass of milk?" which I found cute. :-)

A customer from a former job, who lived in Albany, New York, but was raised in Boston, would type emails like that. "Please may you look at this process and let me know if the following changes might be made?"