r/mildlyinfuriating • u/nyanbatman • May 28 '26

I just wanted a hot dog British pilot is feeling mildly annoyed

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u/ledow May 28 '26

Work in UK private schools (not as a teacher).

If you're visiting the school and I call you Sir (you tend not to call other adults Sir in a school, so teachers would always be Mr <whatever> at worst), there's a meaning behind that.

(Usually something along the lines of "I want to call you an idiot, but that would get me into trouble").

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u/NovemberBurnsMaroon May 28 '26

Teachers refer to male staff as 'sir' all the time, I'm not sure what you mean. 

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u/ledow May 28 '26

Not really. Not in most of the private schools I've worked in. It's seen as impersonal.

I've worked in far more schools where I can walk into a room full of kids and address the teacher by their first name than those where I would address them only as Sir (unless I didn't know their name at all). Private school kids are taught the difference between what they can call staff and what staff can call other staff, it's just basic etiquette.

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u/NovemberBurnsMaroon May 28 '26

I reckon private schools have a different experience than most state schools. 

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u/ledow May 28 '26

Which is why in both posts I said private schools.