I like to be called “Ma’am.”
If you don’t like being treated with a modicum of respect, you could wear a t-shirt that says “Call me ‘Chump’.”
Nope. Everybody calls me sir (but i’m not sure if it’s out of politeness, or because I’m 6’4" 300#) and I usually call men sir, and women, no matter their ages, ma’am. It’s a matter of respect.
“Excuse me, sir” as opposed to “Outta the way, pops”. Hmmm.
I’m with Crunchy Frog. I have specific reasons for hating khaki and the word ‘Sir.’ I still use it, myself, as a polite shorthand for a male of approximate adult age, when I don’t know the name. I don’t care for it when it’s used on me by people who know me or to whom I’ve introduced myself. But I don’t get my shorts in a bind when I hear it.
Even though I know that SIR is an acronym: Stupid IgnoRamus.
“Sir” would kind of creep me out 
I don’t mind people addressing me by my first name, or just waving at me and yelling “Hey, you” or “Hey, girl in the black sweater”. “Miss” is a nice bonus.
Are you planning to hurt the first person to call you ma’am?
Nah. I would just give them the :dubious: or 
for a few seconds, probably. I sure don’t feel like a ma’am. g
I have no problem being called ‘miss’ by strangers. It’s more polite then “hey you!”. The first time I got called ‘ma’am’ was a bit suprising, I was only about 12!
In my experience, the only people to start an interaction with me and call me ‘sir’ want something from me: beggars, telemarketers, &c. That definitely sets an alarm in my head.
If I’m complaining about someting, and the other person calls me ‘sir’, that’s more of an attempt to mollify or appease me, and that doesn’t upset me as much.
Either way, use of the word does not indicate a healthy human relationship.
Now, use of the word ‘sir’ during simple service, as in a restaurant, isn’t so bad. But I encounter the first use so much more often that the word sounds vaguely creepy to me.
I’ve been "ma’am"ed since I was about 18. Of course, since I spent six years in Georgia, that’s not really strange. Just please, don’t make your kids call me “Miss Firstname.” That one I hate. It makes me feel about eight years old to be called “miss” even though it’s intended as a term of respect.
I haaaaaate getting "ma’am"ed by store clerks who are thirty years older than I am. Um, if anybody should be getting "ma’am"ed it’s them, not me, based on age. And I don’t feel like I’m any better than them somehow and deserve it.
I was taught by my grandmothe to use sir and ma’am.
Hard habit to break… I’m thirty now and still do it.
Ihate the fact that so many people seem to get upset about it. I’m just being polite…
I can’t speak for anyone else who’s got a bug up their ass about it, but for me it’s my problem, not yours. I wouldn’t worry about it, if I were you - like you said, you’re just being polite.
It seems to come up a lot more over in Deep South America,in some places it attaches it in each sentence 
Not unless it’s followed by “…you’re making a scene.”
Anecdote:
My dad and I went on my brother’s ship for a week, about three years ago. From Pearl Harbor to Camp Pendelton. My dad bought one of the boat’s hats in the PX but the only one they had left had “scrabled eggs” on the bill (I think they’re officially called Laurels but I’ve only ever heard them called Scrambled Eggs.) Anyway, the Marines on the boat started calling him Sir, assuming he was a retired officer (he was a Seargent), so he had to take the hat off to save himself the embarassment.
So yes, there are times when you do not want to be called “Sir”.
I always address strangers as “sir” or “ma’am” (I was raised in a small town in Appalachia), so I have no problem receiving the same treatment.
With people I know, and especially people I work with, I prefer to be called by name. When addressed by same as “sir”, I amicably reply, “Call me F. or Shakespeare”.
It usually doesn’t bother me unless I’m at work. Even at work, it still doesn’t bother me unless it’s someone who outranks me. I’ve had a freakin’ captain call me “Sir”.
Of course, this is kind of a weird squadron. Everywhere else, I’ve been called “airman”.
Depends on the context. If someone calls me “Sir” in my normal everyday life, I’d be kind of taken aback, but not upset.
If someone calls me “Sir” at Mid-Atlantic Leather bar night, it’s a GOOD thing… leer
It always amuses me to be called “sir”. In my mind, “sir” is reserved for really old people, or military officers. In the back of my mind I keep hearing the voice of a sergeant I had. He once said “Don’t call me sir, I work for a living”. It struck me as funny and still does.
It’s extremely common in the American South to call people “sir” or “ma’am.” Here in Louisiana, it’s just what is done. I do not mind being called “ma’am,” as I am used to it. The “Miss Firstname” practice, which IMHO sounds even siller when in the “Mr. Firstname” form for men, is much weirder to me. That makes me, at the ripe old age of twenty-six, feel like a fossil when addressed that way, though I bow to convention and use it to address others. The current situation in our office and the one you have to walk through to get to ours is this: I, a student (or peon) am called merely by my first name, but the secretary in the other office, who has the same first name as I, is called “Miss Kelly.” It is so strange to me to call someone that.
When someone slips up and calls me ‘sir,’ I fix them with a steely gaze and growl, “Don’t call me ‘sir,’ I’m just as good as you.”
Well, not really – but my old man used to say that. I think it had something to do with being in the army and resenting superior officers.