My favourite thing about Poland is that you don’t address strangers as “you.” You say Pan, Pani, Państwo (Mr/Mrs/+this plural I can’t translate): formal address is built into the grammar. Even in a shop, you’d say “Czy Państwo mają…” not “do you have…” and it isn’t performative politeness but actually structural respect. There is no casual “you” for someone you haven’t been invited to be familiar with. When I do this, people often rush to correct me or rather announce familiarity. “Oh, don’t call me Madame, call me Catherine.” And I’ll still address them formally until they give me clear permission to stop or until I decide I’m familiar and done with the formal. Pure elegance. The kind that assumes every stranger deserves dignity before they’ve earned familiarity. The West abolished formality for uhhh friendliness. Poland kept it bc respect.
