News /
The past and future of Poland. Poland is lost. [113]
WOW! You've all been very busy! I probably lived in Poland before many of you finished High School, Liceum, Tech School, A Levels, whatever you call it where you come from. Again, I was not an American who came to spend dollars. I came to Poland with nothing. I earned zlotys and spent zlotys. I worked like a fool for 6 years and left with nothing as the exchange rate just got worse and worse. When you think about it, no one feels like a prince in Poland. I never felt like a prince. When I lived there, it was an terribly inconvenient place to live. And cheap? Krakow was a bit cheap, but Warsaw was never really cheap.
Sour grapes? You Polish guys sound like you were mad when you saw the Americans or Brits with your women. Be mad at your women, don't be mad at us. You believed way too much in Hollywood movies about rich Americans, and now you feel vindicated in some way? It's really very petty.
My main point of this post was simply that Poland got in a big damned hurry to be in the Union and gave your own country away to the speculators who have made it impossible for normal average Poles to enjoy the fruits of their own country. A few get rich, and the average Poles gets sold out for cheap to Western Europe.
Poland is an average country now. It used to be rather isolated with its own seperate identity, culture, personality. Perhaps you just never liked Poland, Rafik. Maybe you were ashamed of old Poland. My wife's family comes from near Naleczow. The are rather poor village people. They use money, but not so much. They trade, raise their own food, make their own alcohol..and they don't really speak very good Polish. Not very well eduated either. But my father-in-law served in the Polish military and he is proud of that. My mother-in-law works for the local government..now over 25 years.
They never had money, and neither have I. So, no. I never went to Poland to feel like a Prince of Persia. I went to Poland to live among people I liked better than my own countrymen. I struggled in Poland harder than any of you advantaged Poles. I never owned a car in Poland. I always rode second class on the trains, I froze to death in the winters as those stupid radiators never could keep a place warm. I lived in fu*cking Nowa Huta Dz. 303. I rarely bought tickets for the buses or trams and had to dodge the kontollers constantly. I gave private English lessons when I could for extra money..yeah..10 zlotys. wow. And I struggled. OH! And I ate in lots of Milk Bars, and cannot actually ever remember eating in a restaurant...a Turkish Place once maybe.
I left Poland because I saw Poland selling herself to Western Europe..that is..your politicians and their rich friends. AND, I got tired of hearing from Poles like yourself Rafik about how the rich Americans can always go back home, but Poles must stay here, and so, the good jobs must be reserved for Poles.
I got tired of being treated like a rich foreigner. Of Poles trying to overcharge me based on my passport. I got tired of the ever increasing greed of a few Poles who owned everything, and of being told after university,
"Teach English! It's a good JOB!!" I am trained in Finance and Logistics. I studied and lectured at Jagiellonian University, Institute of Business Management.
I am no old git come to Poland to throw my money around. I'm probably more Polish than most of you, and most of you are just Europeans now. Good luck with that.
