I got called "Ma'am" yesterday..

so far I am still single. and have never been called a 'Mom' by someone . But often my neighbors calls my 'auntie'. Its okay, I do not feel anything, because I am beautiful auntie.

I would suppose things are trickier for women than men. I was called "Sir" for the first time when I ordered food at McDonalds. I was about 13 or so, and I guess the person taking the order was being polite. (Options might have included "kid" or the like.) Sir or Mister are reasonably simple. With women, on the other hand, you have to consider Miss, Mrs., Ma'am or the like. In Spanish they have Senorita and Senora and the difference between the two is supposed to be marital status or age. With men, you don't have to guess about marital status when addressing them. With women, you kind of have to. An unmarried young woman is Miss. A woman who is married, no matter how young is Missus. Older women might be called Missus from respect, but are more likely to be called Ma'am. However, a speaker who doesn't want to guess between married and unmarried status could say Ma'am to a woman who appears mature (not a kid) and feel safe. Generally, when dealing with adult women, I use the term Ms. (Pronounced: Miz) [i]From Wikipedia: The American Heritage Book of English Usage states that: "Using Ms. obviates the need for the guesswork involved in figuring out whether to address someone as Mrs. or Miss: you can’t go wrong with Ms. Whether the woman you are addressing is married or unmarried, has changed her name or not, Ms. is always correct."[9][/i] Interestingly, Ms. (considered a feminist term) was originally used as a contraction for Mistress which was the female equivalent of Mister which was used for men. However, "Mistress" has certain connotations.. so feminists didn't want to use the term. Ergo, they employ the "Miz" pronunciation which was apparently common in the southern United States.

I think I was called ma'am the first time on the phone, I really didn't think anything of it really. I just figure it is a sign of manners or sometimes respect.

I'm still on the other side of the spectrum lol. Although it doesn't happen often anymore, I still get carded on occasion, and no one really guesses near my real age. They always think I am just twenty or so. I guess, no matter how frustrating, its a good thing. This way when I do get up in years, I will still look young lol!

I will be 31 in about a week. I think I was about 20 the first time someone called me ma'am. It was some older guy actually. I did not really think much of it. I have been called ma'am many times since then too.

Not surprised as a person doesn't wear a badge that says I"m _ _ old. Nor are there rules to who you call ma'am exactly, but one would assume you'd say that to someone older than yourself. And Miss to someone who appears young like teen's - 20's & unmarried is my assumption. It doesn't really bother me too much since I"m in my 30's now. Though I still appreciate getting carded, as I have to brag to hubby cause they don't even ask him anymore *LOL*