Please Refrain...

The other morning, I got Ma’am-ed.

The college aged man handing out the free Edmonton newspaper, The Metro, decided to Ma’am me on my walk into work.

Metro Man – Morning Ma’am. Would you like a Metro?
Donloree – Uh…no. Thanks though. (I was trying to be gracious, despite the obvious Ma’am-ing)
Metro Man – Have a great day Ma’am.

Not only did he Ma’am me, but he did it twice! That morning I started out feeling peppy, but after being Ma’am-ed twice within 3 seconds, I felt old and haggard.

I don’t appreciated being Ma’am-ed. I am currently 27 years old, which is no where near the Ma’am-ing zone.

I understand that it’s hard to know what to say sometimes, but call me something other than Ma’am! Here are some options:
Hey!
Hey you!
Lady
Miss
Or, better yet, perhaps don’t address me at all if the only thing you know how to do is Ma’am me!

I do have grey hair, but I dye it back to my natural color so I don’t look silly. You can Ma’am a woman when she has jet black hair and it’s obvious that she shouldn’t. When I am at that point in my life, I will appreciate being Ma’am-ed, because “Hey!”, “Hey you!”, “Lady” and “Miss” will all be demeaning and rude. But for now, please refrain from the Ma’am-ing…it’s actually quite disturbing.