This probably sounds dumb, but as a child, I was brought up with all the manners my parents could find to enforce. Like "yes sir/ma'am", "no sir/ma'am", yes, please, thank you, and all the other polite wordings. Don't get me wrong, I think it is very good to have these manners...but sometimes when I say "yes, sir" I end up getting the comment of "oh, that's my father" or "don't call me that, it makes me feel old". I never mean to irratate people by being polite. I just comes out after living with it all my life & having it drilled in as a child.

Sometimes I find my self trying so hard to remember not to offend someone that I forget what I'm really trying to say, & the words slip out anyway. At that point, I try to explaine a little, but feel that gets in the way of the conversation also. It seems hard to live with how I was trained & merge it into what others want. It seems strange how being polite can get you into so much trouble when I was taught that it was the only acceptable thing to do.