And they call themselves men ...

[minimalistix]

In these days of equality, one might no longer offer to give up a seat for a young lady but I would always offer a seat to an elderly or disabled person, regardless of sex. My wife is disabled and I recall being in the busy self service restaurant at Falkirk Wheel a couple of years ago trying to maneouvre my wife and a tray of food while looking for a seat. There were about four tables each with one person on them, all of whom took objection to my wife sitting down, claiming they were keeping all the seats for people further back in the servery queue. It took a lot of tact not to tell them just how selfish they were. Some of these people need to have a spell of temporary incapacity to teach them a lesson. Rant over for today.

Agree with you on that. Elderly, disabled, pregnant, someone who look like they're in pain from standing etc. I'll gladly give up my seat to a man or women. I also hold doors open for women and sometimes men, or hold them open behind me for common courtesy. If I'm dating a women, I'm old fashioned, I open the doors, pay for dates etc.

However, if she's an able bodied young women, the likelyhood of me giving up my seat is slim.

I disagree with this one. I've had any number of people tell me not to call them sir, usually followed by "I'm not that old." I politely inform them that "sir" isn't a term I use for people older than me, but it is a word of respect. In that sense, I'll call anyone sir (or ma'am) just due to the fact that they are either male or female.

As well, I'll sometimes say that I call anyone "sir" who is superior to me in *some* way. Be that age, or position. I'm 21, and I call the 16 year old who serves me at that fast food restaurant "sir" simply because he is superior to me, in that he is the one serving my food.

In contrast, I will not call the millionaire "sir" who treats me like crap in some way.

"Sir" is a word of respect, not a status symbol or age indicator

So funny, I was at a formal wedding reception in Chicago. It was a typical yankee wedding (Love saying that, it drives my northern friends nuts) with a sit down dinner. Anyway, I was talking with a couple from the area and was asked a question. (I don't have much of a southern accent. It's fairly neutral) I responded 'yes mam' and 'yes sir' the lady smiled and said 'you must be from the south' to which I responded 'born and raised or inbreed and brought up as some might say'