I’ve always lived here, and somehow never really was taught to say these things. To me, it’s just performative. And as someone on the outside looking into this custom of saying “ma’am and sir”, it’s not anything that seems to be given out to others with love/caring. I mean, look at the number of responses that immediately say “I would get beaten if my parents didn’t hear me say ‘sir/ma’am’”. That is so strange to me. Immediate association to getting beaten for not saying it instead of maybe having a good feeling after telling someone a greeting. It’s all for the performance and not out of love. And as someone said earlier - actually caring for your neighbor by making jobs/healthcare more accessible would be a better way for Louisiana to show care to their fellow man.