Okay before I get accused of being racist please just bear in the mind the following before reading the eventual reason for my post:
I very much like the Polish people, so much so that in the multi-national workforce I work in, I have often given them more help than people of other nationalities. I have given them jobs within the company I work for, have helped them beyond the call of my duty as a mere administrator by helping them in their personal lives at zero personal gain to myself - only because I genuinely like being kind to them.
I fell in love with a Polish colleague so deeply that I took it upon myself to learn the language, albeit I am not fluent but can have conversations. However I never did anything wrong, we remained very close friends. Then one day she just decided I was nothing when her boyfriend gave her hassle because she is not allowed to have male friends. The last time I saw her was nearly a year ago.
I have helped many Polish people working for this company to a degree totally beyond my calling so why is it then that so many have turned against me to the extent that only one of them is now speaking to me? A large number of them have treated me like a piece of dogs excrement and no longer speak to me at all even though I have to work with them everyday? There are various other countries with large numbers of employees here and none of them have done this. India, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Slovakia etc for example.
How come Polish people are in the main, so ungrateful, rude, and in one case, totally uncaring?
How come Polish people are in the main, so ungrateful, rude
You're generalizing quite a lot there.
There are various other countries with large numbers of employees here and none of them have done this. India, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Slovakia etc for example.
Try to fall in love with one of them, instead of a Polish woman next time.
How come Polish people are in the main, so ungrateful, rude, and in one case, totally uncaring?
You got taken to the cleaners my man, it doesnt always pay to be nice. You have to create the balance regardless of your looks otherwise people will trample all over you, what goes around comes around dont worry about that.
Keep doing what youre doing and if they dont like it fcuk em.
There is a harshness that can be seen quite readily amongst some. It depends what you are accustomed to but I'm from a perky family that jokes and is light-hearted and educated. When I saw their biting behaviour, it reminded me of some people back home. The Poles, like most people, are a mixed bunch. There are many here that, like you, I'd really help and would happily spend an afternoon chatting to over tea and biscuits. Some real humble gems that are modest in their humanity.
However, I know the type you mean. They have had to fight for very little over the years and this has made them rugged. They'll dig their heels in and often be brutally frank and boorish. Most of the negative attitudes towards Poles, in my experience anyway, comes from Poles themselves. They do have what I'd coin as a 'squeezing' culture. They sap the life out of people and drain the positive side. The reasons? Communism, deviousness and anger at being contained for so long. Just look at many now, grabbing money and adopting the 'I'm alright Jack' attitude. Still, I don't associate with such people and will have nothing to do with them. The lovely people I'm in contact with here are the ones that have raised the enjoyment of my stay and deepened my appreciation of their hospitality.
Just ignore them. They are away from home and they are fighting with their natural instincts. They were likely raised as moral Catholics but we see all too often that that is going out of the window amongst the younger generation abroad. Keep your dignity, mate!
It's in my nature to be kind but I've learned to follow what my mum always taught me, namely, 'you have to be cruel to be kind'.
There are various other countries with large numbers of employees here and none of them have done this. India, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Slovakia etc for example.
Every Polish girl would smack you right in the face for such comparison. We are full time Europeans only raped by Ruskies for last 50 years but still Europeans like Germans, French or Dutch.
He was making a point, trotter. The point was that those nationals that he stated haven't yet done that to him. He wasn't contesting their European status. Why can't he expose the bad sides? Life is about experience and some people need to get their heads out of their asses and see that there are Polish women who are really nasty! (yes, just like others)
However I never did anything wrong, we remained very close friends. Then one day she just decided I was nothing when her boyfriend gave her hassle because she is not allowed to have male friends. The last time I saw her was nearly a year ago.
That is your side of the story. The people you work with might think you did something wrong.
They dont like seeing their mates girlfriend getting perved on.
... wait a minute - every Pole in the company has just stopped talking to you??? If you don't know what is the problem, then this may be a gossip problem. There is a piece of gossip about you that they believe and decided to stay away from you for example. Why not get the one who speaks to you drunk and have them spill the beans?
To make a statement like that is quite unfounded and without an substinance at all.
Unfounded? In what way? I've met loads of people here who are unbelievably rude and arrogant it has nothing to do with me as a person, Ask anyone who's met me on here and they'll vouch for the fact that I always go out of my way to make friends with people etc and am very polite and sociable.
I have helped many Polish people working for this company to a degree totally beyond my calling so why is it then that so many have turned against me to the extent that only one of them is now speaking to me? A large number of them have treated me like a piece of dogs excrement and no longer speak to me at all even though I have to work with them everyday?
you sound like a nice guy but it looks like you've been taken for a ride there... you've helped one person and the word's gone round about you being capable of sorting out jobs, that's all it takes really. they took advantage of your kind nature and sadly you've been exposed to the wrong crowd of Polish people, looks like they're all the same and people like that tend to stick together. they got what they wanted and they don't need you anymore, it's ungrateful and very rude you are right. don't let this put you off being a decent human being to anyone, Polish or not, there are good and nasty types in every country. look out for the signs and don't let them fool you, only help people when you're 100% sure they deserve it. you can always get them to pay you for your help or something, at least all your efforts won't go to waste ;). business is business!
I fell in love with a Polish colleague so deeply that I took it upon myself to learn the language, albeit I am not fluent but can have conversations. However I never did anything wrong, we remained very close friends. Then one day she just decided I was nothing when her boyfriend gave her hassle because she is not allowed to have male friends. The last time I saw her was nearly a year ago.
I don't know if this has got anything to do with it? It's a bad idea to get involved with people at work because if it doesn't work out, people tend to take sides.
Sound advice by PP and Justy. In business, pick a country and you will find ruthless types. Japan, Nigeria, America or England. It doesn't matter. If you don't have strategies for dealing with the ruthless, walk away.
AnglikMan: There are various other countries with large numbers of employees here and none of them have done this. India, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Slovakia etc for example. Every Polish girl would smack you right in the face for such comparison. We are full time Europeans only raped by Ruskies for last 50 years but still Europeans like Germans, French or Dutch.
Thank you to everyone who has replied, especially Seanus and Justysias but everyone else too.
What has happened between the Polish people and myself is very sad from my point of view.
However probably I shall continue to be nice to each new Polish person I meet. Most likely yes, they will treat me like dirt after I have helped them. However what if they really need my help and I don't give it? That would be worse.
Some are and some aren't, Arien. You can't get away from that fact.
Anglikman, keep fighting the good fight. I've had a little experience of foreigners abroad and their manners seem to go out of the window. In Japan, I told some of the foreign guys to stop being ******** and start showing some respect.
because they are taught from an early age that to step over the bodies of the tired and the weary is ok as long as it is to achieve your goals. this is what happens when you go overnight from a creaky defunct socialistic welfare state to a ruthless dog eat dog free market where only the quick and the ruthless survive.
How on earth can you take that position with him, Greg? Why should he suffer from some girl playing him along? I always want to know the relationship status of sb so that I don't tread on toes. Playing him as she did is the sign of an immature slapper. She likely did her poor princess act and exaggerated anything wrong he may have done. I know where he is coming from and, based solely on his story, what she did was chamstwo.
There are various other countries with large numbers of employees here and none of them have done this. India, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Slovakia etc for example.
Only the Poles eh, your name wouldn't be Howard Webb by any chance would it?
There’s nothing like a woman scorned, perhaps you’re getting in touch with your feminine side. Rejected by a polish lady, all of a sudden everyone polish is bad. On the other hand it might do you some good to take the rose colored glasses off and see the world for what it really is.
