Hahaha, this lesson was a funny one well, my mother was very strict about me talking politely to people older than myself, so I tend to speak very formally with people in general……but the timing with the boss is, yeah, very important!

I’ve been taught to always talk politely to people older than me, or with a higher social status, and in French we have special pronoums to use when adressing people that way (basically we have 3 different “you” : singular informal, singular formal and plural). But in the hospital it is quite common to use the informal with people who are just above you in the social ladder, and also with nurses, even if you’ve known them for only a few days. It always seems a bit strange to me, but if you use formal language with them they are pronne to take it badly too…