They will confirm your reservation by phone or by email.

Die sind ja recht locker mit ihrem Umgangston - bei einem Restaurant hätte ich nicht damit gerechnet, daß man geduzt wird.

... in Graz eher schon ;)

Aber Vorsicht, natürlich auch dort nicht immer und überall.

Thank you.

On the tram, the younger people are very nice and give up their seats to me. There and in the shops they call me "Sie".

Die Scherbe prides itself on being "in" and avant garde, attracting a young crowd, so maybe the "du" is part of that shtick.

On the other hand, apparently it was just the computer sending me an automated response. Maybe computers address humans as "du", just as humans would address God ...

That's right. My email server tells me "Thou hast mail".

I like that, Martin-cal.

;-) You made my day!

Except that humans don't address their god automatically with "du". It depends on the language and culture, and admittedly, my examples stems from Afrikaans but it has always struck me as very telling that in Afrikaans - where there is also a differentiation between the polite and the familiar address - the polite form is used very sparingly and only for people who are notable persons of respect (like a church minister, the rector of a school, a doctor) but ordinary strangers are addressed as "tannie" and "oom" (auntie and uncle). And the use the polite form when addressing their god. Whereas in German, we use the polite form to any stranger (outside of youth culture) yet we are on familiar terms with our god when praying.