I'm from Bavaria, so can only really speak about the Munich version with some confidence, and I think it is usually used symmetrically. The German Wikipedia ent

I'm from Bavaria, so can only really speak about the Munich version with some confidence, and I think it is usually used symmetrically. The German Wikipedia entry about the Hamburger-Sie specifically discusses the status gradient, so you definitely have a point there. Maybe it is even true for the Munich version and I just never heard it used like that.