The day I was a ma'am...

I've been called a lot of things in my life -,some of them nice, some of them not. But the other night, I was called something I had never been called before: "Ma'am." No, I wasn't in drag or anything (I have nothing against drag, I just think I'd make an ugly woman!). I had ordered a glass of Merlot at one of the outdoor bars at The Abbey in West Hollywood as I waited for my friend Michael who was late meeting me for dinner. The hunky bartender (aren't they all hunky at The Abbey?), handed me my glass of wine, and said "Thank you ma'am" and turned around to help someone else. I knew I heard right but decided to just sip my wine and read the LA Weekly. Suddenly, he turns around red-faced and says: "Did I just call you ma'am?" Before I could even answer, the guys sitting next to me enjoying a plate of hummus blurt out: "Yeah! You did!"

Bizarre. Anyway, it reminded me of the episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" when Mary and Rhoda become a ma'am. In fact, the great Valerie Harper even named her memoir, "Today, I am a Ma'Am."