Poll: Do you say sir and ma'am?

[DrumminBoy]

just when talking to the fuzz

 

[denali]

I use sir and ma'am all the time plus "yes please" and "no thank you".

 

[eplebnista]

Sometimes

 

I used to say that when I was a kid. But part of being a Californian is ridding oneself of that habit. Most people don't appreciate being called that. My music teacher used to address me ma'am. It made me feel somewhat old. LOL! Anyway, basically, people prefer to be called by their names, so I call them by their names. I'm not really comfortable with "sir" and "ma'am". I prefer to call people "Mrs. <Insert surname>", "Mr. <insert surname>", "Miss <insert surname>", etc. It's much more comfortable. "Sir" sounds too formal and distant. I would only call someone whom I felt very distant from emotionally by that title. Basically, I realised how that title ends up sounding not very polite because of its distant tone. I tend to use "sir" or "ma'am" when I meet a sassy person, with a few instances of sincere courtesy. It's intended to achieve sarcasm in most cases.

 

[Scouzer]

I can't even remember the last time I said those words in a non joking sense.

 

[fluxquantum]

i use those depending on whom i am speaking to.

 

[Stratum9]

I grew up in a private school down in Florida where Sir and Ma'am were drilled into your head. When I was about 13 I said "yes Sir" to my aunts boyfriend who was a dirty, pot smoking, deadbeat who couldn't keep a job. He didn't deserve the honor of being called "Sir" but I said it just out of habit. Of course he wasn't used to being addressed this way and acted all surprised and freaked out about it, which made me feel embarassed for having said it. After that I was more discerning about who I used those words on.

When I moved North I started getting a lot more reactions towards it, like "don't call me Sir/Ma'am it makes me feel old". I figured it was a southern thing so I pretty much dropped the words from my vocabulary now.

 

[ROTC1983]

I use it when I speak to someone who is older than me or when I am in ROTC

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: BowlingNut
as a 18 year old boy raised from the "good 'ole boy" south - i always say ma'am an sir when speaking to elders and strangers. its just disrespectful not to.

Thank you. Biloxi, Mississippi and Shreveport, La here.

jemcam- Tip of the day: Don't call an NCO sir or ma'am, you'll get an a$$ chewing.

Heh, I had to interview a Col in the ANG about the flooding here in the spring. A private took me to him, and I called the private sir (because I'm used to calling all men sir), and he gave me a goofy look and laughed. I appologized and felt like an idiot!