"Yes, Sir." -- "No, Ma'am." (Not A Poll)

[arwalden]

So I'm at the grocery store last night and a young fellow (about 7 years old) was not paying attention and darts directly into my cart. He dropped the cereal box he was carrying, and I responded with "Slow down! Are you okay?"

He replied, "Yes, sir. Sorry." Then he picked up the box he dropped and scurried off to catch up with his mom.

What?? Did I hear him say "YES SIR"?? "SORRY"?

I was speechless! What is this world coming to? Children actually being taught to be courteous and respectful? Just AMAZING!!

I'm not sure if it's a Southern thing... but when I was a child, I was taught (without exception) to address my parents and any other adult as "Sir" and "Ma'am".

We were never allowed to say "Yeah!" or "Huh?" or "What?" or "Unh-unh" or "Uhh-huh". It was always "Yes, Ma'am" and "No, Sir" and "Pardon me".

Although I was delighted to see how courteous that young fellow was... it's still disappointing to realize how rude and self-centered and arrogant many kids are today.

I put the blame squarely on the parents (and maybe on a few teachers) but mostly on the parents.

Have you actually been in public and LISTENED to how kids talk to their parents?! I don't know what's more maddening... the fact that the kids do it in the first place, or the fact that the parents just stand there and take it.

(Is this the breeding ground--hatchery--for rude and self-important Freepers?)

-- Allen

P.S. Here's an oldie but a goodie. Anyone ever say this: "Thank you for dinner, Mom. I've finished eating. May I be excused from the table?"

[rjbcar27]

1. I love polite kids.

I still say Sir and Ma'am. Shows respect.

[Skittles]

2. well

I guess it's polite but I personally cannot stand to be adressed as MA'AM; I think it sounds creepy. I guess I've been anti-MA'AM since I first heard it when I was a 21 year old Air Force sergeant. :(

[arwalden]

3. As Radar O'Reilly Would Say...

Sorry, Sir... Ma'am. Ma'am-sir. Sorry.

[Rowdyboy]

6. Early training made "Yes sir" and "no ma'am"...

integral in my early vocabulary.

Since then I've observed nearly 100% correlation between polite children and well behaved children. Disciplining children is so effective and worthwhile that its amazing that its been dropped from most contemporary parenting. Sadly, its the children that pay the price of the parents laziness.

[Skittles]

11. LOL!

I DID get called SIR by more than a few guys right out of boot camp, bless their hearts!

[meegbear]

4. I use "yes sir" "no ma'am" ...

always have and always will.

But I REALLY like being called SIR (wink, wink)

[arwalden]

5. I wondered how long it would take before SOMEONE would head down that path

... you old horndog you. ;-)

-- Allen

[baldguy]

7. "I'm not a ma'am!"

"My MOTHER'S a ma'am! I'm not old enough."

or

"Don't you call me sir. I WORK for a living!"

I try and be polite. I try and be respectful - and THIS is what I get!

[VelmaD]

8. You left out...

"It was delicious Momma" and the peck on the cheek. :-)

My parents were the same way about good manners and so are my brother and my best friend. It's amazing how well behaved their children are in public compared to so many of the little monsters I see running around.

Darth Velma

[5thGenDemocrat]

9. My mom insisted on polite behavior

So "sir" and "ma'am" it was and forever shall be.
John
Here's what's funny -- I'm now nearly 47. I have friends in their twenties, whose parents are usually about my age and I refer to them as "Mr" or "Mrs" Whatever. They tell me that I can call them by their first names and I reply "no, I can't." If someone is the parent of a friend, they are called "Mr" or "Mrs."

[Aristus]

10. I've run into a lot of polite kids. There are more of them out there

than you might think. Gives me hope for the future. I especially like the ones who use the military method of ending the sentence with 'sir'. So it comes out: "Yes sir, sir!" :-)

[Drifter]

16. The old Sir andwich

Use Sir to start the sentence, and Sir at the end.

So then it would be
Sir, Yes Sir, Sir

Jesus I have too much time on my hands.

Cheers
Drifter

[catzies]

12. I thanked a mom the other day at Home Depot for doing the right thing

I was in the paint aisle and two kids were impeding my access to a shelf with their shenanigans, and their mom came right over and told them to knock it off and to get "out of the lady's way."

I reflected on how little that is done anymore in our selfish self-absorbed society and I thanked her for paying attention and the kids for listening to their mom.

[Shrek]

13. And what's so wrong with "Mr." or "Mrs." instead of a first name?

I refuse to allow my son to address adults by their first names, but there seems to be a sizeable contingent who oppose this practice!

Numerous times I'll introduce my son to "Mr. Whomever" only to have him say something like "Oh, that's okay, he can call me Max." Sorry, but NO HE CAN'T!

Anybody else feel the same way? Am I hopelessly out of date? Have social norms changed that much?

[Heddi]

14. No, you're not out of date

a friend of mine was telling me recently about an apparently "new trend" in schools now-a-days where the teachers encourage students to call them by their first names.

Now, I do remember when I was in school that some teachers (generally Kindergarten and 1st grade teachers) would be called "Miss Heather" or "Miss Sue" or whatever---I guess it's hard for a 4 year old to pronounce last names correctly.

But this kid is in 4th or 5th grade, and the teachers now insist that kids call them by their first name.

NO more "Mr. Jones" or "Ms. Snodgrass".

Now it's "Kate" or "John" or "tim"---

I think that's TOTALLY inappropriate.

I also think it's weird when kids call their parents by their first name instead of Mom or Dad.

I equally think it's weird when kids are taught to go the OPPOSITE extreme and call "mom and dad" "mother and Father"---like, don't be so dang...formal....

[Drifter]

15. When I was a kid ...

I had 2 experiences with using the "Ma'am" term.

I had conciously begun using the respectful polite terms "Sir" and "Ma'am" when I was trying to leave my "little boy" persona behind me as a young adult.

I was ordering food at a fast food restaurant. The nice lady behind the counter asked "Will that be for here ?", and I responded "Yes Ma'am". From her accent I could tell she was from the South. She seem delighted to hear this term of respect, and she mentioned that she didn't hear that much up here (meaning in the North). This made me feel good.

Another time I had the chance to answer "Yes Ma'am", and the lady looked at me, and asked me if I was calling her old. I was a bit taken aback, as I was using this as a term of respect and politeness. I calmly reassured her that I was merely show my respect and being polite. That seemed to take a wind out of her sails, as I suspect she was ready to jump down my throat. This also made me feel good, in that I diffused a cynical interpretation of this term.

Cheers
Drifter

PS - you want to really piss off your enemies ? Be nice and respectful to them. Gets'em everytime.