I am weirded out ...

[ohiofarmgirl]

Of all the things I've been called...ma'am suits me just fine

me too. i think its weird and wrong when people's kids call me OFG and not Mrs. TheBig Man or ma'am. i figure with all the miles on me i deserve a little politeness.

mostly i call everyone back here "honey".... almost always because i cant remember anyone's name. my family is notorious for giving everyone and everything nicknames. so "honey" covers everyone and i dont have to recall the complex web of names.

i miss the west coast slang tho, i dont have anyone to call "dude" because its totally offensive here.
:-(

once when i went back to the west side a random person "dude'd" me (at the airport) and i nearly hugged them out of joy. but that would have been weird b/c you're supposed to treat everyone with casual indifference.

 

[ORChick]

Well ..... now there are two them .... *Ma'am* in stereo . The young man came back to finish the job, and brought his brother.

But I think I'm getting used to it.

There are certainly many other things he could be calling me that would bother me more

I don't have much to do with the young people of this area, except my immediate neighbour kids; its good to know that at least two have a good work ethic, and are polite to their elders/employers. (Oops! Not to say that the neighbour kids aren't. They are both fantastic young women, and I would be lost without their help with the animals when we are away from home - and they both call me by my first name )

 

[Neko-chan]

...

 

[garden pixy]

When I was working FT I would spend a bit of time working with contractors, I would get the Hon or Sweetheart treatment all the time. One day I finally had to tell the construction manager, I AM the engineer on this project, cut the Sweetheart crap and treat me like an equal or I am going to start making your life hell, because I can. He apologized and picked me up a six pack the next day, he said it was just habit because I look like one of his daughters as opposed to a colleague. I would get the Hon or Sweetheart treatment on the phone with clients and municipalities, but I let them get away with it because I needed their approval.

 

[garden pixy]

I will be 24 next week (for refference; I was about 20 when I started working). I used to work in a grocery store bakery (yeah, not all that glamorous, but you do what you have to). There used to be a few older fellows that came in for coffee and a pastry, and because I was almost always the first one there (I was the morning baker, so I got in at 5:30, and the store opened at 7) I usually helped these people. I would get a "Thank you Ma'am" at least once a day, which I found both gratifying and slightly weird, considering I was sooooo much younger than these customers.

Then, a teen came in one day, toward the end of my "reign" there, when I was getting pretty disgruntled with my life and my lot, and he looked up at the sign, chose what he wanted, said "May I please have..." and ordered his coffee, and then said "Thank you ma'am," when I served him. I was totally blown away by his impeccable manners. XD

If only all kids were trained that well.

Isn't it sad when simple manners and politeness is surprising. When I was 9 months pregnant I went to a restaurant with DH and because there was quite a wait the chairs in the waiting area were all taken, mostly by young adults. I was completely floored when a young boy, maybe 10, came up and said "Ma'am you can have my seat" and shortly after the boys parents got up to let an elderly couple sit, meanwhile all the other patrons kept their purses on the bench next to them and were entirely oblivious to the fact that maybe there is someone standing that could use that spot more than their coach bag.

It's sad that rudeness is commonplace and manners are rare. DH told me yesterday that his children are going to be the ones late for their reservations because they are busy holding the door for a bus full of old ladies.

 

[meriruka]

Ma'am is fine with me even though I'm still a Miss. I can't expect people who don't know me to guess I'm not married. What really frosts me are strangers that use my first name (such as tellers at the bank). Grrrr.
Now that I live in the south, I'm getting used to 'hon' & 'sweetheart', but 'darlin' still aggravates me.

 

[abifae]

What really frosts me are strangers that use my first name (such as tellers at the bank). Grrrr.

My job told us to call everyone by name and I said, "mr lastname" better count because I am sure as heck not calling people by first name. How freaking rude. Luckily, they said that's fine. You can use ma'am and sir throughout the call but have to use their name at least once. I guess to show we pay some sort of attention?