...did you just call me SIR?

[Drakstern]

I used to get called ma'am a lot when I worked at the Big Bird and Large Ursine. Now, part of this was because I was the only male cashier for a long time, so people kinda got used to 'ma'am' at the registers.

I've never gotten ma'am over the phone though. Then again, I've got a fairly deep voice and the phone filters all the nasal bits out...

I did get asked what I was wearing, though.

[Rine]

Sometimes I get called "sir" on the phone and I don't mind it because I appreciate the fact that the other person was simply trying to be polite.

That's why I don't get bothered if I accidentally called someone "sir" who is a "ma'am" and vice versa. I know that I'm trying to be polite and I'll apologize if I get it wrong, then I go on with life. No biggie for people, most of the time.

I get a little irked sometimes by people that say you should avoid saying "sir/ma'am" because you'll offend someone. Well, it's getting to the point these days where you can't say ANYTHING because someone will be offended. So, I'll continue on with my "sir/ma'am" because that's how I was raised and honestly, I'm just trying to be polite.

And anyway, I think there are far more people out there that will be offended that you DIDN'T call them "sir/ma'am" than the other way around. At least, that's what I've encountered.

[GingerBiscuit]

Oh, I didn't mind, it was just quite funny. In that while I am quite skinny and not very curvy, I wouldn't call myself exactly masculine you know...

[wanderingjoe72]

I'm used to madam

I misread and thought you said "I used to madam". Started thinking Heidi Fleiss.

Now that job must have some really sucky customers.

[chainedbarista]

I was checkign traffic on 275 and a guy comes on and says somethign like hey good looking wanna get together?" I use a line I heard from someone on here and say "Sure thign but I gotta tell you the truth. I'm only one surgury away from being a real woman" Nothing but dead air until another trucker came back with "Well that shut him up."

nearly had a violation of rule #1 on my hands (and screen)...

i haven't been mistaken for a sir at any point, but i have been mistaken for my son on the phone; apparently my 'deep smoky voice' sounds like a teen boy.

*ghetto booty and a 36C prevent the sir from happening face to face, i guess*

[Marxfan]

I've lived in the south almost all my life, and if you're a female, regardless of your age, you WILL be called "ma'am". I don't mind it.
I have, on the other hand, been accused of being a guy because of my pixie haircut by little children. Apparently, in this day and age, a woman with short hair throws them off. Sigh.

[FenigDurak]

A few weeks ago I was teasing my Step Dad who gets called Ma'am almost daily. The very next day I was called Sir at the grocery store. I don't think I'll be teasing Step Dad ever again.

For the record, I'm in the white shirt in the middle: Busted!

[Misanthropical]

I'm told I sound like a little girl on phone and this has lead to many of my daughter's friends mistaking me for her and visa versa.

Anyway, I answer the phone one day to have the man on the other end ask if I was my husband. Uhh? Yeah, that was awkward for that guy.

Another time, we were buying something and the salesman kept calling me "sir" and having to correct himself. I look nothing like a man. I was wearing a dress (size 9 in USA size), with my hair down and there is no hiding my chest. I teased him by saying that no matter how many times he calls me sir, it would not change my gender.

[Imogene]

Besides, how many guys do you know that wear acrylic nails painted bright pink anyways?

You have obviously never met MY friends!

I keep flashing to scenes from Clerks 2, particularly with how Jay refers to everyone as 'Sir'. I get sirred every so often, but I also shrug that off. It's quite a bit of mind-bending fun when customers start asking me questions that eventually lead to me explaining why I think I don't have a gender, they'll start asking, "Well, what should I call you?"
"Juwl will do. I hate honorifics, particularly because they're enforced by society. Do what feels right, I say. So long as you're not hurting people, it doesn't matter to me, for the most part."

[XCashier]

I get a little irked sometimes by people that say you should avoid saying "sir/ma'am" because you'll offend someone. Well, it's getting to the point these days where you can't say ANYTHING because someone will be offended.

And until someone comes up with a polite, gender-neutral singular form of address, we have no choice but say "sir" or "ma'am".

[Ttam]

Oddly enough, I have been called "ma'am" at least once. Which is totally, truly bizarre, considering I'm like 6'4". Then again, my hair is long and I have a pretty slim build so I suppose from the back it's possible to make that mistake. As soon as I turned around and answered my masculine features and seriously deep bass voice tipped them off, though.

My sister gets all sorts of gender confusion going, though. She has a fairly androgynous face and tends to dress like a guy a lot. Her bust gives her away if she's wearing something tight, but when she's wearing one of her big coats, she can get to looking like a small, effeminate guy.

[Listerfiend]

A few weeks ago I was teasing my Step Dad who gets called Ma'am almost daily. The very next day I was called Sir at the grocery store. I don't think I'll be teasing Step Dad ever again.

For the record, I'm in the white shirt in the middle: Busted!

1) How did you get sir'ed?? You don't even appear to have a masculine face or anything...

2) Photo-op with some Mythbusters? How cool is that?

[Gerrinson]

There was one guy who used to come into the grocery store and called me Miss every time he came through my register. I would have thought that the mustache, goatee, voice, and name tag (never met a woman with my name) would be a dead give away.

I can only assume that is was because I had long hair (waist length) at the time and this somehow offended him. Not that an SC would ever be offended by something like that...

[marty]

We used to have a regular who was in the middle of having that surgery. They worked at the transgender clinic (I know this because I had to do customer service calls one day and I called the number they left.) I moved away before I ever knew if they were turning into a man or turning into a woman, so I can't really call them a ma'am or a sir.

I've been called a sir before. I'm really very obviously not a sir. I'm 5'5" and very petite. I think some people just aren't thinking about it and it slips.

[Sylvia727]

My Sister: "Excuse me, are you a ma'am or a sir?"
Customer: "Neither, I'm a Chris."
My Sister: "Ok, Chris, the answer to your question is..."