How far is it from "Sir" to "Ma'm"?
I know that for some of us it is a difficult, if not impossible, distance.
But for others of us, can it be just attitude and body language? Or maybe one or two articles of clothing?
I spent Sunday in Detroit, visiting the Henry Ford museum and then heading for the airport.
In the museum I was wearing a women's turtleneck in a "neutral" beige, a slender pair of misses' Levi's, and male looking boots (that came from the women's department), with no makeup and my hair in a low pony tail.
I was pretty consistently called "Sir."
And, initially, I was called "Sir" as I went through airport ticketing and security.
Once in the airport, I raised my ponytail to just above the tops of my ears and slipped on a pastel lemon yellow sweatshirt. That was all of the change I made.
A few minutes later I headed into the men's room. A man called after me, "Ma'm, that's the men's room."
I ignored him and took care of my business (standing at the urinal).
As I was washing up, a rather agitated custodian told me quite loudly, "Ma'm, you're in the men's room!"
When I sort of ignored him, he grew even more agitated and told me a second time.
Both gentlemen seemed quite genuine, neither incident suggested that it was some kind of put-down of a "girly man."
I dried my hands and left.
After than, I returned to where my spouse was sitting, shouldered my purse (which I routinely carry all of the time but didn't have in the restroom), and went off for a walk.
A gadget in a store caught my eye and I stopped to look at it. The salesman, a very charming middle-aged man, was very helpful, showing me the various items and pretty much encouraging me to buy anything and everything in the store.
When I went to check out, he even offered to cut open the blister packs for me.
As I produced my credit card, the nice man said, "Will that be all, Ma'm?"
I assured him it was. He ran my credit card and routinely said, "I need to see your I.D."
I held up my driver's license (with my thumb carefully placed over my gender).
He looked puzzled for a moment and said, "Oh! I've never met a woman named D---- (my boy name) before."
I smiled and said, "My parents had quite a sense of humor."
"I guess so!" he chuckled.
He handed over my package and receipt and, in a completely genuine manner, said, "Have a nice day, Ma'm."