I remember I used to get ma'am from a guy who was three years older than me on the basis that I was married and had a kid, he was so sweet. He said his mom always taught him single women are miss, married women and mothers are ma'am. I'm still Ms. on any correspondence, it's disconcerting to get mail addressed to Mr and Mrs John Smith, though. I know some women like it, I always saw that as, "Dear Sir and addendum.." LOL!

Being in the military makes you say sir and ma'am a lot more than other folks, too. Maybe you caught the admiring eye of an off-duty soldier or soldier's kid!