Sir'd in ma'am mode

[Majella St Gerard]

I was heading out for the evening, in full girl mode, and as usual stopped at my local convenience store to get cigarettes. The guy behind the counter, who has seen me many times in both modes, said "what can I get you sir...uh ma'am ", kind of annoyed me. There were other people on line and I felt a little embarrassed. 275745

[SometimesKairi]

Don't take it too hard. Shop people are programmed to say hello and most likely didn't pay any attention to you till he realised.

As for the people in the queue, they've already forgotten

[kimdl93]

Imagine how you would have felt if you were a GG. It happens and he did immediately correct his mistake.

[Paige Dehart]

It happens, I have been the receiver and the giver of an erroneous greeting. More often than not this occurs not, because of the person standing in front of us, but because our minds are too busy multi tasking instead of taking one moment at a time. When I do it I immediately apologize and take full blame for my error. I can't speak for that clerk but I can tell you from personal experience that I feel horribly embarrassed when I do it, and laugh when it is done to me.

[sometimes_miss]

Imagine how you would have felt if you were a GG.
True. I've seen some women go ballistic when someone calls them sir. The one that stands out in memory was a rather rotund woman who appeared to be in her fifties, with a short 'man style' haircut. The foreign man at the register had simply said, 'yes sir? when she stepped up to the counter,' to which she responded, 'SIR? SIR? Who you calling SIR? What do you think these are? (as she pulled up her t shirt and bra to expose two rather large breasts, that's probably what makes it so memorable). The poor clerk kept trying to apologize, but she continued to rant on for about three minutes (though it seemed much longer), and then she stormed out, followed by her friend who appeared to be quite embarrassed. OTOH, if he had said 'ma'am' to a homophobic dumbass, he might have gotten punched in the face.
Some people take offense to everything. Remember, it's not always all about you.

[barbara gordon]

This happens to me sometimes if i am out dressed . especially with cab drivers . Its potentially awkward and irritating . I have decided to ignore it , and not attempt to correct them with desired pronouns.
I then also try to push a friendly conversation , so that maybe the "pronoun offender" will remember a good conversation and be left with a positive memory of meeting a crossdressed person .

---

I just remembered something that happened last week that was a little bit related to this : I was in a wall greens drug store ,
I was looking at beach hats . there was no easy mirror near the hats to use , so I would grab two or three and walk quite a ways to get a look at the mirrors in the cosmetics area . A friendly sales clerk noticed this and was calling "Ma'am ! " " MA'AM !" , 'MA'AM!" !!
This was directed at me , to my back . I did not realize that the clerk was calling me ! She finally got my attention and called me over to offer a better mirror for me to use that was at her counter. Kinda funny and a good type of embarresing at the same time.
its a little of the opposite of what You are describing of getting "SIR'ed" . I was not thinking or expecting to be called and alerted as "Ma'am", or " Miss".

[Majella St Gerard]

The clerk knows me as I go to that store quite often, and he generally knows what cigarettes I smoke ( I smoke a different brand in femm mode ) and he gets it right 90% of the time and has always used the correct pronoun before. It just caught me off guard.

[alwayshave]

This happens to me sometimes if i am out dressed . especially with cab drivers .

Barbara, Taxi drivers seldom turn around, so they may be keying off voice. I have had this happen, and I just ignore.

[Trione]

Many years ago, I was stationed at a Military base close to the Texas/Mexico boader and it was common for service personnel to go to a boader town for the weekend. I work with Paul & Rose who decide to spend a weekend in mexico partying. Well Rose could pass as a FtM, and as happen they caught the same taxi driver on Friday night twice and again on Saturday night, each time being offer to take them to some nice gals for entertainment. the first two time Paul politely declined, but on Saturday night they had more then enough to drink and when the taxi driver offer to take them to some ladies of the evening, Rose in her brash drunken way dropped her pants and panties throw her legs over the driver seat and ask 'Does this look like I need a girl'? They driver damn near fainted and was very embrassed, So lighten up it works both ways.

[docrobbysherry]

I'm a guy in a dress. However politically correct SA's and waiter/waitresses address me goes in one ear and out the other--------:straightface:

[lingerieLiz]

I have a soft voice and get mamed quite often. Answering he phone I get asked for my male persona. I couldn't resist one time and flirted with a guy. He got really fresh. Called him back and in my deepest voice told him to stay away. My wife gets frustrated with me because I will lead the damn solisters on.

[Sara Jessica]

Chill, he corrected himself immediately. And you state he knows you in both modes so clearly he finds guy mode to be more ingrained in his recollection.

If he had not known you before and made the error without correction, I'd say "what part of (this dress, these breasts, etc) make you think calling me sir is remotely appropriate???".

[Aunt Kelly]

Tone of voice is impossible to convey in text...
Did it seem like an honest mistake, or a deliberate dig?

[XemmaX]

despite your feeling of embarrassment, he did realize his mistake and corrected it. it's happened to me before but not in a while and laughing it off is the best way to deal with the awkwardness i have found.

[Majella St Gerard]

It was a honest mistake, slip of the tongue, he did correct himself, BUT I still have the right to be annoyed by it. And if I am the paying customer, THEN it IS all about me. Just saying.

[Sandin Meknickers]

People are confusing enough without 2 stuck in one. Give the guy a break or explain that you're TS/TG at a quieter time maybe. Unless you're just cross dressing which means you are a sir by contextual definition and have no argument at all.

[CD Tammy]

Him knowing you in both modes may have caused that momentary lapse. If it happens again, you might remind him of the pronoun to use.