Saturday, January 15, 2005

Ma'am's the word...

It used to be "Miss",


or even "Doctor Letti" most of the time back home, but now i'm a "ma'am".

However, that's the polite Southern way, and I am afraid I must had offended a bunch of people when I first got to Texas by not calling them "ma'am" or "sir" (only because it's not the Asian way, which by the way, calling someone "Auntie" might even be worse....) but do I look like a Ma'am to you!?!?


On the other hand, when i have children, i'd probably insist they called everyone a ma'am or a sir.

11 comments:

Ashley said...

I call everyone (well almost) ma'am or sir, even my kids. It's just a southern polite thing. :)

Anonymous said...

In the south, manners still count. We call everyone sir, ma'am, miss or mister.

Pissy Britches said...

Yes girl, it is unfortunately one of those stupid southern things. I never called my parents maam or sir but you bet I make all these kids say it. It is torture to them. haha.

Anonymous said...

Hi

I find Ma'am quite generalized.

Back here in Singapore, the maids (aged 40 & above) are calling my girlfirends (aged btwn 25 to 30) "MOM" *eek* Now tat is such an "insult" !!!! LOL!!!!!!!



Rgds
Agnes, Singapore
http://www.xanga.com/krazy_gal

PS: I "found" u via blog clicker ;)

letti said...

Ashley : I find myself calling people maam and sir now too!

Clint: So you're a surfer dude? :)

Stephanie: when we were young, our parents made us call people "uncle" and "auntie" instead of Sir and Maam..it's just the asian way, i think/

Wickedly Perfect: Ooo..i sooo know what you mean by the word "maam" aging me by at least 20 years.

Agnes: Ooo..Indonesian maids call people "ibu", i think..which means mom...is that what you meant? I tried to paste a comment on your site, but i am not xanga member..*sigh*

spydrz said...

Ma'am is just a way of life...it's a sign of respect in the South, something that is lost in other areas of the country.

:: jozjozjoz :: said...

I hate being called ma'am, as well.

mrhaney said...

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Animesh said...

Count your blessings.
Maam is better than Auntie. Just like Sir is better than Uncle :)

Anonymous said...

Yes ma'am! So Southern. I find it funny though.

JANO
http://daghtus.chattablogs.com/

Mellie Helen said...

I didn't like hearing "Ma'am" when I first started getting addressed that way, but now I confess that I always appreciate the nod of respect. It's far less about whether it's "Miss" or "Ma'am"; if either appellation is directed to me, I feel good about my fellow human being's use of good manners, particularly if this comes from the mouth of a child.

Naturally, I prefer "Your Highness", but that just hasn't caught on for some reason.