Despite living in multicultural society, small cultural differences remain, even among western countries.
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What is polite in one place could be offensive to someone else.
Recently an Orange man was telling friends about his experiences in the United States and how polite people were in some regions, especially the southern states.
He’d been surprised at how people called each other sir and mam on a regular basis, particularly in the service industry and after being there a while he started doing it as well.
However, many people in Australia associate the term mam in particular with older women.
The discussion quickly turned to how many women in Australia aged between 20 and 40 dislike the formal term, including those he was speaking with.
Those of that age said it made them feel old or that the person addressing them thought they were old, even when they knew the person was trying to be polite.
They were most likely to be annoyed when the person addressing them was an Australian working in the service industry who was also much younger than themselves.
However, there was a level of acceptance if the person came from an older generation or another country where the term was more common.
It raises the question, at what age is it appropriate for a woman to be called mam and what else should you call them and what terms, if any annoy you?