Interesting German expression

In German there is this expression “dürfen”, which can be literally translated as “is allowed to”. I find it interesting cos when I ask my husband if i can do something / if it is a good idea to do something...

In English, I only say “Can I...?”

But in German, when I said “Kann ich...?”, my husband always said I should say “darf ich...?” (Am i allowed to...?)

I know in German können (can) only refers to somebody’s ability to do something, whereas dürfen is about asking for permission.

But still...

Whenever I have to say “darf ich...?” (Am I allowed to...?”),  I really feel that the other person I am talking to has an authority to decide on something related to me.

My feeling might be wrong but right now with my B1 German Level it really feels this way.