I'm happy to report that chivalry is not dead.
Today I had the interesting experience
of a young man calling me “Ma’am” when he accidentally threw a toy towards
me while playing catch with his daughter in the water at the neighborhood pool. “Sorry, Ma’am!,” he said. How nice!
Except it wasn’t. The poor guy. I really let him have it. You see, at 54, I’m
not quite ready to be referred to as “Ma’am,” especially by a 44 year old man.
However, that interaction led to us talking and now I have a new friend. We
tried to problem solve alternatives: “Sorry, Miss!” “Sorry, Mrs.!” Sorry, Ms.!”
Nothing else seemed right. He admitted that he has worked for the military so “Ma’am”
came naturally to him. He was nice enough to introduce me to his wife so we
asked for her suggestions. She said, “Why not just say, ‘Sorry!’” Hmmmm. Is
that better or worse? I can’t tell. Thoughts?
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