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does it seem weird when people call you sir (or ma'am for the ladies)?

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Uncle spent a lot of $$ to teach me to be qualifed to be call SIR.

After all that time, it is natural to also get it in the civilian world.
And training has me saying it to my superiors.
 
I'm a manager at a callcenter where most of the people under me are around late 30s to their early 50s. I am only 25 and they all call me sir and this bastard once called me ma'am as a joke (I thought it was funny; however, he no longer works at the company, and I wasn't the one who fired him LOL). When I speak with the clients, I call them all sir and ma'am as a sign of respect. I am, after all, still a young man in everyone's eyes.
 
Not really, although I usually get called "young man" and not "sir". I try to address strangers as "sir" or "ma'am" if I'm trying to get their attention though.
 
Originally posted by: Iron Woode
Originally posted by: loki8481
I think I'm getting old. haha. I've started noticing a lot of people (security guards at my office, parking attendants, retail store workers, etc) calling me sir. it feels very, very weird...
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surely, you can't be serious?
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I am serious... and don't call me Shirley. :| 😉
 
Originally posted by: Iron Woode
Originally posted by: loki8481
I think I'm getting old. haha. I've started noticing a lot of people (security guards at my office, parking attendants, retail store workers, etc) calling me sir. it feels very, very weird...
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surely, you can't be serious?
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Don't call me shirley!!!

EDIT - DAMN YOU loki8481!! *Shakes fist*
 
I often address all my close guy friends as Mr. Lastname or Hello Sir something very formal like that.

We are all in our 20s
 
Originally posted by: EagleKeeper
Originally posted by: sm8000
"Please, don't call me 'sir'. I work for a living."
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Typical answer for a NCO
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I've heard it from them, and said it as one. Mind you, we were all RCAC (Royal Canadian Army Cadets) so we were under 19 anyway, just having our fun.
 
No, it is a respectful term. It does feel weird when someone my age who is a peer does that though. Otherwise if they don't know me, or are younger than me, no big deal. An older person can use the term, too, but that gets used less often.

I will tell you of a weird incident that happened to me. I was eating out with my friends at a local diner, we brought a pack of cards, and a kid I used to counsel noticed me eating there. He started to talk to me, and his friends were around. Apparently, they all go to an afterschool program in that strip mall. The kid I counseled had a little time so started to play cards with us. One of the other kids asked me if I was his dad. :Q... (I am 25 BTW). LOL. My friends constantly laugh about that when they talk to me.
 
Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
In the south (at least in my area) we use sir and ma'am to speak to just about anyone that we do not know (or consider one of our friends). It is a sign of respect, not of age. Unless they are really young.
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It took me a long time to get used to it when I moved down here. People would call me "sir" and I'd be looking for my father. My wife and I spent the weekend with my parents in Nashville recently and they commented how nice it was to hear "sir" and/or "ma'am" so often.
 
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