In spoken American English the words lady and gentlemen are often used to refer to people you don't know
But not directly, whereas in Polish you use the form "Pan" speaking directly to someone.
The Polish form "Pan" is similar to the Spanish form of address "Usted/Ustedes" or to the German form "Sie". The German form of address is even more weird as literally they directly address a single person using the third person
plural rather than singular.
- Sind Sie ein Berliner? - would literally translate into Polish as "Czy oni są berlińczykiem?" (meaning: Czy Pan jest berlińczykiem?). And the answer could be: "Ja, ich bin ein Berliner" rather than: "Ja, sie sind ein Berliner" (Tak, oni są berlińczykiem)".
Russian troll......yes,probably....they seem to love this forum
Rich Mazur is definitely someone else than he claims to be. If he left Poland directly after graduating from Politechnika Warszawska as he claims, he would have had no difficulty in grasping the concept of "Pan/Pani" even now after so many years in the US. This concept is so much inherited in the language and so often used on a daily basis that a person of 23 years of age would be perfectly used to it even after 50 years spent abroad with total immersion in another language. I would understand his difficulty with grasping that concept now if he left at, say, 14 years of age at the maximum, but not at the 23-24 years. He is either lying or trolling or both, there is no third option.