Comments for Sasha Cagen

Comment on Madame vs. Miss vs. Ma’am by elle

elle — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:39:02 +0000

Using Personal Titles #4: Miss, Mrs., Ms., Ma’am, by Dennis Oliver …
http://www.eslcafe.com/grammar/using_personal_titles04.htmlIf the service worker is your age or younger than you, Miss is probably acceptable. If the worker is older than you, Miss is probably not acceptable: use ma’am

This is why I don’t like ma’am. It’s just plain ageist and here is some guy teaching people learning English to judge a woman based on how old she looks and call her ma’am or miss. I know I don’t appreciate being sorted like a piece of beef or livestock. The problem isn’t the word. It’s just a symbol. It’s how the word is being used. I just want this country to choose: Miss or Ma’am. I don’t care. Just use one for every female person regardless of her age or marital status. All men are sirs, after all.

Comment on Ma’am vs. Miss by Madame vs. Miss vs. Ma’am | Sasha Cagen

Madame vs. Miss vs. Ma’am | Sasha Cagen — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:09:26 +0000

[...] own discomfort about being called “ma’am” (ick, hate that word!) in this piece, “Ma’am vs. Miss” and want to ban it, or replace it something something less matronly. I don’t expect that the [...]

Comment on Ma’am vs. Miss by mairtate

mairtate — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:34:35 +0000

Well, ma’am is definitely an understatement. I’m called ma’am now more than ever before. I feel it is a let down because I’ve been looked at as an attractive woman for so long. The word ma’am seems odd and it does make me feel like I’m all washed up in the “fishing pond” of women who are looking for a mate. But what is cool about it is when I hear it from a man, it lets me know he notices me. Even in the smallest since of meaning, he is looking at me. I know I can’t read what he’s thinking when he says it but I think he says it because I am older than he is or maybe he is just being polite. I’ll never like being called ma’am because I think it is old fashionished and I am sensitive about my looks. I’m almost 53.

Comment on Ma’am vs. Miss by Truegem

Truegem — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:06:13 +0000

Ok…here’s my spin on it. I am 50 yrs old. When I was first called ma’am around age 18, sure I was a bit stunned. But I got used to it. I think people don’t like it because it sounds dowdy. But, I have noticed a recent trend where store clerks are suddenly calling women “miss”. Miss? Where did this come from? I am certainly not a “miss”. Do I look 12? And it seems as if they are saying to themselves “I know you look old enough to be called ‘ma’am’ but I’m going to pretend like I don’t see your age”. Come on! That’s even more offensive to me. I am ma’am. Call me ma’am! I started thinking that they call little girls “miss”, what do they call little boys? I’ve only heard “young man”. We wouldn’t want to make 50 year old men feel old, so should we start calling them “young man”? Sounds kind of patronizing, doesn’t it?

Comment on And So This Is (Celiac) Christmas. . . by Sasha Cagen

Sasha Cagen — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:29:22 +0000

Yes, let’s find him. The wonderful celiac or gluten intolerant man who will cook fantastic GF meals. He is hereby invited to be my life partner. I will shop and do the dishes.

Comment on And So This Is (Celiac) Christmas. . . by Sasha Cagen

Sasha Cagen — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:14:41 +0000

Thanks Charlie! I had the most fun writing that paragraph. The situation is so absurd there has to be comedy in it.

Comment on And So This Is (Celiac) Christmas. . . by Chris

Chris — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 19:33:56 +0000

I’m sure they meant well, but it’s really hard to “get” how high the risk of contamination actually is until you’ve been trained/supervised. For example, until you stood over my shoulder as I cooked I hadn’t realized that ground herbs could contain trace amounts of gluten (even something like 100% groud turmeric), and that you can’t trust the corporation unless you call someone in authority, because they periodically change their processing techniques. Once you go through that a couple times, you can understand why you don’t want to deal with doing it yourself, and instead just buy certified GF foods.

Donning my roseate goggles, I think the bright side is that holiday glutening will be a natural thing to bond over with a celiac future boyfriend.

Comment on And So This Is (Celiac) Christmas. . . by Charlie

Charlie — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 07:02:57 +0000

Thanks for sharing Sasha. I especially love your humor. “and now my boyfriends all get asked to brush their teeth… how clean and white they look.” I appreciate your authenticity.

Comment on Ma’am vs. Miss by Iryna

Iryna — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:58:13 +0000

yeah, just don’t put us in the age category YOU defined. Some women don’t like “hon”, some “miss” and I don’t like “ma’am”. I know you are talking to me when you are behind the counter, so leave the rest alone.

Comment on Ma’am vs. Miss by Iryna

Iryna — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:52:34 +0000

Those who are in their twenties are just ridiculous… “people called me ma’am and I found this amusing”. Dont you think it “amuses” you because mostly you are NEVER called ma’am. In my 20s in didn’t bother me at all. And now it does. I have the same reaction/feelings as other women in their thirties described. Yeah, it’s always “it’s a sign of respect”, so you are saying that you started to respect me only 3 years ago when I turned into mid-thirties and all of a sudden started to be called ma’am? At 32 y.o. I wasn’t, so I wasn’t respected? Bottomline, I don’t believe it’s a respect. In fact when the intonation is respectful, I even like it. I noticed a lot of younger people, when call ma’am, have this tone like I am their retarded grandma or smth. It bothers me too much. I know MOST of the women my age hate this but it also a problem that I just want to punch everyone in the face who calls me ma’am after I just got out of my ballet studio and leaped and turned for two hours… yeah, ma’am leaping in the air and doing pirouettes. Just don’t call women in their 30s ma’am. After all we might be 12 years older than you, but we are not your grandma age. Leave it as a sigbn of respect for your grandma too