Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I married a man from Tennessee and what I found out about southerners from that experience and others is that there are two sides of their hospitality.
One person I met during a trip to New Orleans in 1977 put it in words for me. They smile to your face and stab you in the back. That was over 30 years ago.
That about summed it up for my personal experiences.
If you don't believe it today, watch the real housewives of Atlanta. of course it's over the top, but it dosen't make it any less true.
Maybe you didn't know, but the only Atlanta native on the Real Housewives of Atlanta is Kandi! Lisa is from Inglewood, CA, NeNe is from Athens, GA, Kim is from Connecticut, and Sheree is from Cleveland.
It's one thing to have never used it yourself and not be used to it. We understand that lots of people are like this.
However, you personally said you were going "to break her of that habit". So it's not enough to not use it yourself, you are actively squelching others' use of it. THAT is what many of us find gobsmacking. Not enough to talk your way and let someone else talk another way that most would consider more polite--you insist on changing her. How can it POSSIBLY harm you if she uses those terms?
Yeah, you respect it so much, you are trying to "cure" her of saying it. We are all familiar with Northerners who want to "cure" us of our ways to be more like them, believe me. Because we'd all be a bunch of hicks without your more-enlightened selves, ya know.
Wow, you sure get serious about an off the cuff comment....let me reiterate: we don't say it in the north and when we hear it, it is "different" IE: subserviant or military-like..
I consider this friend an equal and when she refers to me as ma'am or others as sir, it sounds like she's waiting on us...that surely steps on your toes but my toes are smarting by the inference that we who don't use the same verbage are disrepectful...ouch...
As the saying goes, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do..."
I also stated that when I'm in the south, I have utmost respect for all southern customs and would never expect someone to talk "northern-ish".....that is what makes the world go 'round...
I love y'all and hope every ma'am and sir reading this has a great day
> What do you think about Sen. Barbara Boxer being addressed as "ma'am"
> rather than as "Senator" by a U.S. brigadier general during a Senate
> hearing? Was this really a breach of protocol?
> "Let us not go looking for insults -- or assume stupidity, which it
> would be for anyone to insult a senator at a senatorial hearing.
> MissManners assures you that "ma'am" is, like its masculine
> equivalent, "sir," a highly respectful form suitable for addressing
> any female, including a president, a monarch and your own mother."
I feel "yes sir and no sir,yes ma'am and no ma'am" are patronizing and disingenuous. Hardly a reflection of good manners.
I was born in the heart of Boston & raised in the suburbs. I always use "sir" and "ma'am" and say "excuse me" if I walk in front of someone. Sometimes people call me "Honey" and I flinch, but the older I get, the less I care. With all the violence and hate in our world, how I'm addressed by strangers is too petty to worry about.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
sorry
