US Senator Telling Brig. Gen. To call her Senator not Ma'am?

[scbatz33]

Quote:

Right on the money!

Oh my Gosh, you are so right.


Mrs Boxer and Mrs Pelosi have forgotten who they work for, however, if Mrs Boxer wants to be called Senator Boxer, then by all means address her that way. Crazy politics or not she did win that title. Something I found interesting though was the was she addressed the General. She said

"You know, do me favor" instead of Excuse me General, please do me a favor"

That tells me she wants to be shown respect and not give it out to handily. Both Mrs Boxer and Mrs Pelosi have shown their disdain to the military on several occasions

Exactly.....I read through this whole thread and one question came to mind. Was he responding to a question or was he addressing her as ma'am. Because if he was responding to a question with a "yes or no ma'am" , then she is IMESHO way out of line as usual. If he was addressing her directly as in "well, ma'am let me tell you..." then yes, he should have said either Senator or Mrs. Boxer. However, she is a snotty, snide woman and it does not surprise me in the least that she would be demeaning and rude in her retort to a man who has spent his life serving this country.

As far as the southern stuff goes, I was raised by a yankee in the land of the mid-south and have spent the last 5 years outside of Charlotte, NC. It is an insult to not address an elder with the respect of at least am Ma'am or Sir. I'll admit it makes me queasy every time someone clearly younger than me calls me "Ma'am" but I stopped correcting them long ago. Hey, I AM older than the grocery store clerk, it is what it is.

Iam not surprised that out in CA a common sign of respect and politeness its is considered an insult. It seems to me everything out there is out of wack and you've got too many chiefs and not enough indians all trying to be the most important person in the room. The economy as a whole is messed up, people are losing their homes and jobs, CA is bankrupt and all the Overly, self-important Senator from California can manage to focus on is how a Gentleman addresses her??? Seriously???

I sure hope none of you really think Mrs. Boxer is gonna fix anything but her pension plan........Ok, I'm

 

[ibpboo]

A few months ago, the farrier referred to me ma'am. I felt he was being respectful towards me.
Ms. I always thought was a way of not revealing your marital status, if you prefer to be called that. Some one calling you that, meant they are not sure.
Miss is unmarried or young girl, and Mrs. is married.
Since a man is Mr. whether married or not, I thought Ms. came about as more of a equalization thing.
I am proud to be a Mrs.

I did not see the conversation ya'll are talking about.
This has been an interesting read.

 

[eggsforsale]

I think the senator is too full of herself. I also believe those in "authority" do deserve a degree of respect for their title. However, I agree with jjdward. Our elected officials should remember how they got there and also maintain some humility. Humility is a virtue for anyone to have. They are public servants. You gain respect by giving it. I think her attitude towards the general was disrespectful to him. I think she has lost some respect by her attitude.

 

[scbatz33]

Quote:
As I was making my lunch to go to work, two quotes popped into my head - forgive me I have no idea to whom to give the credit....

1. With great power comes great responsibility.

2 Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

 

[Intheswamp]

Quote:
Interesting to note in my area married ladies, when referred to by their first names, are most often referred to as (for example) "Miss Sally". But, if they're referred to by their last names it seems it's a 50/50 toss-up between "Miss Jones" and "Mrs. Jones".

If I were to call the ladies at church "Mrs. Linda" or "Mrs. Patricia" or "Mrs. Smith"...well, they'd think I'd gone nuts.

Ed

 

[australorpchick]

Quote:
Explain please.

In some places, CA being one of them, Ma'am is NOT a sign of respect, it's code for "old hag"... BTW: "young lady" is also considered disrespectful here, took me a few years to drill that into some "proper southern boys".

Oh, please! I'm a California native who was lucky enough to wake up and realize that California had become a cesspool. There are many reasons why California is no longer the beautiful, successful, state it once was and Boxer is one of them. Her life-long accomplishment should be remembered as helping send California's economy down the drain.

As for "ma'am" and "young lady" being derogatory, that would be an individual's perception, not an area's. I came from a very large city and that was not considered disrespectful. While I'm at it, please don't change any more proper southern boys. They're fine just the way they are and we can certainly use more of them.

Okay, getting off the soapbox...

 

[ibpboo]

Interesting to note in my area married ladies, when referred to by their first names, are most often referred to as (for example) "Miss Sally". But, if they're referred to by their last names it seems it's a 50/50 toss-up between "Miss Jones" and "Mrs. Jones".

If I were to call the ladies at church "Mrs. Linda" or "Mrs. Patricia" or "Mrs. Smith"...well, they'd think I'd gone nuts. smile

Ed

Very true. Mrs. goes with the last name, not the first name. And Miss if with the last name, usually means unmarried. And Ms with last name, would mean not revealing either way.
But then, it is all a toss up!

 

[The Chicken Lady]

Quote:
That's what I've read in those huge "manners" books (Emily Post and whatnot).

 

[Opa]

I've reached an age where I have seen a lot of changes in this world. One of the saddest changes has been a loss of respect and manners. I still believe in being respectful to others regardless of age, that you should acknowledge people as you approach them, that all women are ladies, doors should be held, and thank yous' offered. I don't think anyone is to young, to old, to tired, or to busy to be polite. If you are offended by my ma'ams I'm truly sorry but I don't intend to change and I raised my sons to be the same way.

 

[Boyd]

Quote:
I would have been whooped black and blue if I deliberately didn't use my Sir's and Ma'am's. No way that sort of disrespect was going to happen to one my my parents kids. Now a days, its seen as old fashioned.