I never had to say yes ma'am or sir, but my parents raised me to believe that bad manners were a sign of poor parenting and that I had to be polite or else it would reflect badly on them. I still think that bad manners show how well parents raise thier kids. There are way to many kids going around today cusing at their parents and being little jack asses in general. I dont know if its that their parents dont try or that the kids dont care.