The woman's obviously a mental case. I wish she had hit him so she could find out how youth returning jail is. Being called 'Ma'am' is a measure of respect that she obviously did not deserve.

There is no hard and fast rule as to the exact age a woman becomes a 'Ma'am' but marriage automatically earns the title. It doesn't matter if you marry at fifteen - if you're married, you're a ma'am. Technically, if you're unmarried, you're always a Miss (or in today's world, some use Ms. in correspondence) but other people can't tell by appearance who's married and who's single so (past a certain age), they call you 'Ma'am'. Usually, if you look over 25, an adult will call you ma'am because somebody in their mid-twenties might be married. A child will call any adult 'ma'am' because everybody looks older to them. Combining 'Miss' with a first name is always aceptable no matter what their age or marital status but 'Miss' is not used with the last name of a married woman.

I've never understood these idiots who have to always find offence with something. Ma'am is meant as a social nicety and nothing is going to make these idiots younger anyway - they're the same age no matter what title they want to call themselves and everybody can look at them and see it. You were born in the year you were born and so what? 'Miss' or 'Ma'am', it's just a title and a nicer way of addressing someone than saying 'Hey, you'. Some people just can't be pleased and if that mental case had threatened me, I would have called her something else entirely and see if she had liked that label better!