On returning to the small-town South after years in Yankeeland, I had
difficulty adjusting, as a woman, to the Ma'am bit, and to addressing
persons I knew socially or as neighbors as "Mrs. xxx." I had become used to
addressing PhD friends and all my neighbors on a first-name basis, and had
been known by my first name for so long that Mrs. and Ma'am felt like an
insult or sarcasm. The persons who insisted most vociferously on the
regional norms were usually older and without even a high school education.
I soon learned to be careful of their feelings, although it still feels
strange...even given that I grew up with this. It always amused me to hear
one of my brothers reply to my mother in a voice dripping with rebellion,
"Yes, MAAAAAM!!!"
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