# Golblammit! I am not a Mister, nor am I a Sir! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 4, 2001, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182 "2001-07-04T05:39:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Whammo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Whammo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2001, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182/1 "2001-07-04T05:39:20Z")
What the heck is with this?? I don’t turn 30 'till NEXT year. I go to the Subway sandwich shop the other day and the tattoo’d guy with the stretched out earlobe hoop thingies behind the counter kept calling me Sir. He couldn’t even make a freakin sandwich right and I had to keep correcting him. “I’m sorry Sir, I’m right on it Sir, thank you Sir, Have a nice day Sir.” Grrr!! I’m not a Sir, Sirs are stately and old. Thats not me. HOWEVER! To top it off there is this HOT little alternative looking chick at my work, colored hair, occasionally mohawked, punk cloths, kick ass little figure, probably all of 18. OK, for A SHORT TIME I was doing something that looked like I was half way important at my work and had a half way important sounding title, “Presidential escalations”. Sounds nice but it wasnt much more then a glorified position of what everyone else was doing. She started calling me Mr. Whammo (where Whammo takes the place of my last name). OH NO NO NO NO NO, that doesn’t work at all, and to top it off I think she was doing it to be snide! Gack! Nobody HERE or anyone that KNOWS me would say these things… is this a sign that I no longer fit in with the younger generation? I was the highschool heavy metal freak man, the guy who could SNAP at any moment. Whats happened? It gets better doesn’t it? tell me it gets better!! :(🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2001, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182/2 "2001-07-04T05:42:04Z")
No, sir, it doesn’t. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Feynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@Feynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feynn)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2001, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182/3 "2001-07-04T05:49:09Z")
Just wait until you’re 35… ---
**Author:** ![DynoSaur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DynoSaur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DynoSaur)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2001, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182/4 "2001-07-04T05:54:19Z")
Hell, I’m _24_ and I get sirred. It makes me feel so ooooooold… ---
**Author:** ![Booker57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2001, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182/5 "2001-07-04T06:20:25Z")
I Sir or Ma’am everybody over 18. I have a hard time with names. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2001, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182/6 "2001-07-04T06:48:16Z")
I “sir” (or “monsieur”) all the male customers at the store, including little boys. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2001, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182/7 "2001-07-04T07:19:09Z")
I got Sirred when I was 16. [sub]And I’m waiting for someone to forget to use two Rs in that . . . [/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Sultan\_Kinkari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@Sultan\_Kinkari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sultan_Kinkari)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2001, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182/8 "2001-07-04T08:28:42Z")
There are really no other formal way to address someone whose name you don’t know or can’t remember. It’s either, mister or sir. Otherwise it’s bro, hey, dude, hey buddy, or son. I admit it makes me feel old but I say it all the time to anyone that looks older than me. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2001, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182/9 "2001-07-04T10:07:25Z")
Trust me, it beats “Hey, asshole!” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2001, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182/10 "2001-07-04T12:48:09Z")
Frankly, I like it. On looks alone, you might think that the guy at the sandwich shop with the earlobe-hole all stretched out might not have the manners to refer to you as such. But, it seems he does. It’s polite. It’s proper. It’s even somewhat expected. When I was 20 and someone called me “Sir”, I took it as a complement and a sign of excellent child-rearing on the part of the parents. Now that I’m 40, I appreciate it even more. I think most folk need a bit more practice in the use of good manners. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2001, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182/11 "2001-07-04T12:54:56Z")
Sir or Ma’am is the polite way to refer to someone whose name you do not know. I got called “Miss” all through my last restaurant experience and found it annoying. I’m 35 and married. Geez. If anyone’s entitled to Ma’am, it ought to be me…I kept wondering if the young man waiting on me was sucking up to get a better tip. Yes, sometimes Ma’am makes me feel old, but it’s a lot less annoying than Miss… ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2001, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182/12 "2001-07-04T13:07:51Z")
I like being called “Sir”. It’s this old fashioned idea called _manners_. My pet peeve, however, is being called by my first name by a person whose first name I don’t know, eg. when I’ve just filled out a form and given it to a clerk, etc. Normally, I don’t mind informality, but I think these people are taking too much of a liberty. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2001, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182/13 "2001-07-04T14:22:14Z")
Good God Whammo! Is someone slipping estrogen into your coffee? You are a 29 year old MAN! You’ll probably have a few gray hairs in 5 or 6 years. Most men your age have serious responsibilies and many are starting or have started families. Enough with the Peter Pan angst it’s incredibly unbecoming. It’s time to take up the mantle of a mature male who proper address _is_ correctly and politely "sir’. Now drop and give me 20. “SIR YES SIR!” ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2001, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182/14 "2001-07-04T14:27:13Z")
you would prefer “hun?” ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2001, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182/15 "2001-07-04T14:36:59Z")
Darn right they’re just being respectful. I mean, they don’t know you, so they’ve gotta call you something, right? Not like here, where everyone just spits and makes the sign of the horns when they see you. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2001, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182/16 "2001-07-04T14:44:43Z")
You think it’s weird when you do a double take on being called “Ma’am” (or “Sir,” as the case may be)? A few months ago I jumped at being called “Miss” – I’d gotten so used to being Ma’amed. Urk. ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2001, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182/17 "2001-07-04T14:50:11Z")
If it makes you feel better, I call everyone “kiddo” or “kid”. Thank \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* (insert diety name or natural process name here) I don’t work in the service industry. 😃 Wait. I _do_… ::::looks at her Scylla Fun Squad nametag::::: Whee! ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2001, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182/18 "2001-07-04T14:57:31Z")
No, it doesn’t get any better. I’m 31 and get ma’am’d more than I get miss’d. I usually whine “I’m too young to be a ‘ma’am’”, and slink out where ever I was depressed for the day. On the other hand, I get carded for cigarettes a lot still. 🙂 Last weekend someone called me “miss” and I thanked him for it! ---
**Author:** ![Akatsukami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@Akatsukami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akatsukami)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2001, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182/19 "2001-07-04T15:37:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wishbone \* > **There are really no other formal way to address someone whose name you don’t know or can’t remember. It’s either, mister or sir. Otherwise it’s bro, hey, dude, hey buddy, or son.** Or “Listen up, punk!”, the traditional way of addressing anyone who looks younger than you, whilst at the same time seems incapable of beating the snot out of you. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2001, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182/20 "2001-07-04T19:13:16Z")
All I can say, _sir_, is: **MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!** [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golblammit-i-am-not-a-mister-nor-am-i-a-sir/71182.md?page=2)