Use of "Sir" & "Ma'am"

I don't get offended when children call me maam. My daughter calls people sir and maam, it is a form of respect to her elders and I make sure she keeps that up. She doesn't necessarily have to do it with me, but she does do with with her grandparents and other members of the family and people who visit. She volunteers at where I work part time and she shows that respect to others there as well. I find it to be extremely important. If I do this for my child, I certainly don't find it offensive to be called that.

I respect and honor when a youngster calls me sir and means it seriously. Now as far as my daughters fiancee. he calls me sir all the time and I don't like that as I feel he is actually an extension of the family. I keep telling him, Don't call me sire. Call me Bob even Mr. Olson. But if you're going to call me sir make sure you say Sir Robert Olson. Hahahaha!!~ HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA BOB !!~

No, Swtrose, I do not become offended when I am called Ma'am because it is a sign of respect and honor.

I rather enjoy it when someone calls me Ma'am however, most young people call me Mom!

Nope, but it does make me feel a little old. :) My kids aren't too good at Ma'am for some reason, but they are pretty good about Sir, although they only do it with strangers. My 5 year old always asks our waiters "how are you today sir?" lol.

I'm in the Air Force, I'm used to hearing it and saying it.

I use to feel offended when people call me ma'am. I do understand that they are only trying to be polite and respectful. But in informal meetings or situations, I felt offended because I am not a mother yet (LOL). My ear is like itching :-) I know... I know... ma'am is not about being such thing. I just want people to call my name.

I guess they are uneducated trash! Only someone with no couth what soever would not like the respect that being called sir or ma'am denotes. I always call people sir or ma'am or miss if they look under 18.

I have very short hair and only get offended when someone addresses me as "sir" when I have my back turned to them. As soon as I turn around, they realize their mistake! As I have gotten older, some youngsters will call me ma'am. It is a sign of respect, so I don't usually get offended by this. PEACE

a little annoyed,but not truly offended. it just makes me feel older than i am. "lady" as in "hey lady"(said with sarcasm)now that irritates me.i don't like the tone of it.

I persoanlly think it is better then young children calling elders by their first name. A few years back when I took Childhood Education Training, we were being encouraged to let children call us by our first name not just in daycare situation but for all kids in our lives. The theory was to to take away the stigma that adults were superior to them or something like that. I think through the years I have learnt that there does need to be a difference between children and adults in the relm of respecting your elders and a first name bases doesn't work. I didn't mind being called by my first name in day care and preschool but I did still wonder if it is the right thing even in that situation.

if the person is the same age or near the same age as me yes. I hate when they call me ma'am or mrs if they know me. If its in a store or something and someone says Ma'am here is your bag I understand that what else would they say. Hey lady don't forget your bag lol. At least that person is showing manners.

No, I am not offended when someone calls me Ma'am...I feel that they are showing me respect. I, too, know people who get offended by this...I do not understand why. Although, once someone has been around me for awhile...around my family...I would prefer they just call me by my name, Tina, but I still would not be offended.

No I don't get offended but i just don't like people calling me sir.... it makes me feel uncomfortable. But yeah i come across some unavoidable situations where people do tend to call me Sir...

I grew up being told that 'Yes ma'am' 'no ma'am' 'yes sir' and 'no sir' were respectful ways of speaking to people older than myself, especially if I don't know their name. That's one reason why in retail it is used a lot because there's not many ways to refer to a customer when you need to speak to them or get their attention. People older than me call me ma'am, but I don't mind too much. What really gets under my skin is when a customer looks at me and says, "Hey lady." That just doesn't sound too nice to me for some reason. I'd rather be called ma'am or miss if they need my attention. I don't take offense to too much, but "Hey lady" gets under my skin severely. It's mostly elderly customers who do that to me for some reason. One of my co-workers heard a man say, "hey lady" to me one day to get my attention and she asked, "what did you do to make him mad at you?" Of course, that was the first time I had ever seen the guy. I wouldn't have thought another thing about it had he said "miss" or "Ma'am." Oh yeah, then there's the, "Hey you. Do you work here?" I just wanna say, "Nooooo, I wear this Wal-mart name badge because it's stylish." LOL