sie oder du?

always learning more and more about this, i've given up hope on learning articles and cases, no one really cares that much if i fake it. but it's really important, i think, to know the difference between formal and informal. i never really understood it well in spanish, then i started to learn german and the rules are all different. meike's mom gets really upset when i speak to her formally. but ruth's mom doesn't correct me. i think perhaps it's better to call them polite and impolite like ruth does, but that makes du seem rude. my new insights: meike likes when the parents of her patients call her sie. her patients can call her du of course, but when a parent calls her du it makes her feel like she has to become very personally involved, and she feels alot more responsibility. at the jazz club, ruth calls everyone du. it was suprised, casue anyone i've ever given money to has called me sie, but she says because it's a bar, by calling people du, especially new people, it makes them feel like they're part of the club. she always calls men du there, even older ones; she says they really like it. so perhaps familiar and unfamiliar is better. i'm still not sure, but i fell i've gotten a better grip on it.