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Most overpriced things in Poland?


Seanus 15 | 19,674  
9 Sep 2009 /  #31
I meant those outwith the political sphere, Juche. I had everyday people in mind. Animal Farm showed the evil machinations of communism amongst the power brokers. The average Joe had to queue in the freezing cold for precious little. They had to create their own things to look forward to as material goods were never going to generate contentment.
mvefa 5 | 591  
9 Sep 2009 /  #32
Family ties? How does that operate here

Not sure i used the right term, but what i meant to say was the influence of family can also stop someone from becoming an exhibitionist, "what the family would think" "what would mama, papa think" common phrases in many cultures.

By the way anyone seen my new papa (MG) where is he? :S
Seanus 15 | 19,674  
9 Sep 2009 /  #33
True enough. Still, communism sought to streamline things more. There was a more definite way of doing things and people had to tow the line or risk incurring the wrath of the nearest Vladimir or Fyodor.
mvefa 5 | 591  
9 Sep 2009 /  #34
communism sought to streamline things more

offcourse, it standarized every aspect of life, therefore evil!
Juche 9 | 292  
9 Sep 2009 /  #35
I had everyday people in mind. Animal Farm showed the evil machinations of communism amongst the power brokers. The average Joe had to queue in the freezing cold for precious little.

Now a lot of average Joes still have precious little, pondering their illusions of material good while staring at their new plasma screens bought on credit...while the phone bill goes unpaid and they borrow cash from neighbours for groceries. They work for peanuts and get taken advantage of by the people who employ them (the same ones who shaft them out of their ZUS or whatever), but why ask questions? You'll never get yours because what lawyer would want to work pro bono to get your 2500 PLN that your employer screwed you out of because he won't pay your back overtime?

In the PRL days it was the same...your commie urzednik had you by the balls and could do whatever he or she wanted, and you had to put up with it...what Poland didnt have then and still doesnt have is accountability at the top. Probably wont ever have it, as its not a Polish custom for people at the top to answer to anyone.
Seanus 15 | 19,674  
9 Sep 2009 /  #36
Also, regimenting things against the will of the people can only be detrimental in the long run. Yes, there is containment but the flip side of the coin is repression and civil unrest. I kid you not, communism was carcinogenic. The grudges that some people bear now are staggering.

Falsity and pretense rear their ugly heads. An even distribution, as advocated by pure Marxists, was never going to be an acceptable mode of governance here.

Juche, very well said. Nobody takes the blame here and I can tell you that it isn't only the case that the top dogs are this way. It has trickled down and filtered through the whole social strata. Kinda like osmosis and permeation in Biology. I remember not getting any apology for them being late, quite a few times.

I see more and more credit agencies popping up on the streets. These are would-be beggars who have the bailout of a credit fix (the service users I mean). Sad!
Juche 9 | 292  
9 Sep 2009 /  #37
point is, anyone who pushes their way forward to the troth of power and privellge while stepping on the backs of the people around them are nothing more than scheming vermin, doesnt matter if it happens under communism or capitalism.
OP Foreigner4 12 | 1,768  
9 Sep 2009 /  #38
Nice guys, nice f'n hijack. good work, way to stay on topic!
just kidding, i like to see where people will take a topic and how.

Their modesty and humbleness has disappeared in one way.

maybe in one way, it never even existed?

Thats one think i despise about poland is the dual pricing.

^that blows me away because since 2001 i can't recall a time when i ever paid a "westerner's" price, maybe i just chose not to buy whatever it was at the time but i really don't recall ever being ripped off to the point of where it was an arbitrary price due to me being foreigner4.

Anyhow the reason i asked is because i've been back home all summer and people always say "oh you should have bought ______ and you could have sold ________ here and made a profit." I never think of this stuff and just curious what you would bring back to Poland to sell if you were in my shoes.

It's weird though, the laptop i bought in poland was cheaper 1 year ago than the same laptop here in canada by about 200pln, maybe that's just an exception though.
mvefa 5 | 591  
9 Sep 2009 /  #39
Most overpriced things in Poland?

Hookers :P

I've heard.
OP Foreigner4 12 | 1,768  
9 Sep 2009 /  #40
mvefa, why would you write that? At what point should a person selling their body for cash be considered funny?
mvefa 5 | 591  
9 Sep 2009 /  #41
Relax dude, even hookers laugh sometimes at what they do... :p
OP Foreigner4 12 | 1,768  
9 Sep 2009 /  #42
I'm not upset and it's still quite early here so i'm very much relaxed (: but i am curious as to the mindset that feels it ok, even laughable to joke at those in what most would consider unfortunate circumstances, even more so if you're a foreigner doing such things.
mvefa 5 | 591  
9 Sep 2009 /  #43
Well help me out a bit here, you agree with me that not aaaaall of them do it because they are in extreme need. I mean there are still jobs in cleaning or other sectors, but some girls just like the easy money. not all but many.
OP Foreigner4 12 | 1,768  
9 Sep 2009 /  #44
I really don't know the answer to that question but if you had a daughter would you find it funny if she sold her body despite not being in extreme need? But to be fair you may be correct. However you didn't specify that group to begin with and more or less made a blanket statement. And now after making such a childish comment, you find yourself explaining yourself and coming off the worse for it. For your sake and the reputation of expats in Poland (apologies if you're born and raised in Poland but your writing style, among other things leads me to the conclusion you weren't) I certainly hope you refrain from such comments in public. That kind of thing will come back to hurt you physically or in regards to how others view you and I think you're probably better than that comment would lead one to believe.

Now what would you bring back from abroad and flip for a small but consistent profit here?
mvefa 5 | 591  
9 Sep 2009 /  #45
It surprise me that from a small comment, which was meant to be sarcastic, a big topic has been made. Im not polish by the way, im Dutch, been to Poland thought, and as for your last comment, i just see that you take all which is written here, waaaay too seriously.

Sir, if you check my comments in any thread you will find me defending myself and others, from stupid threads and comments like: Arabs are sadistic, or nigerians dating polish women get the f*ck out of here" or classics like: "Polish are stealing our jobs"

Among other ******** threads, but for you to come and pass judgement on me based in one comment, sorry i cannot find other word than "idiotic"

I chose to be sarcastic here, because the amount of lunatics that you find in this forum is great, and if i would take every threat or comment seriously, i would be doing a huge damage to my daily mood..
OP Foreigner4 12 | 1,768  
9 Sep 2009 /  #46
I said "I think you're probably better than that comment would lead one to believe." Other than that i don't see where i "passed judgement" on you but if you can point me to where i may have done so i may concede to your, uh, "point of view." Until then I maintain you perhaps, think twice before laughing at those working as prostitutes in Poland. Apologies for the audacity of such a request.
Harry  
9 Sep 2009 /  #47
Now what would you bring back from abroad and flip for a small but consistent profit here?

Moldovan women.
mvefa 5 | 591  
9 Sep 2009 /  #48
I tell you a little story:

One of my friends ( he is from the US) studied here in Amsterdam "sex and gender studies"
He had to do a research on prostitutes, i accompanied him to the red light district to interview some of them. Many of them affirmed and reaffirmed that they loved their job, that they hated having to go to an office job, or even go to school.

Now who are you to tell those girls that they should feel ashame, or sad, or frustrated, if they feel great with what they do, and they can joke about it, and they chose for it, then its just another job. Would you also get uneasy if i made a comment on how overpriced the inmigration lawyers in Poland are? Some of them didn't have choice, they studied that cause they were forced by their parents, or because it makes the most money. would it upset you to?
OP Foreigner4 12 | 1,768  
9 Sep 2009 /  #49
One of my friends ( he is from the US) studied here in Amsterdam "sex and gender studies"
He had to do a research on prostitutes, i accompanied him to the red light district to interview some of them. Many of them affirmed and reaffirmed that they loved their job, that they hated having to go to an office job, or even go to school.

I am no expert but i'll hazard that the red light district of amsterdam is somehow a different working environment than the highways and parlours of poland, whether or not you agree doubtfully changes my guess.

Now who are you to tell those girls that they should feel ashame, or sad, or frustrated, if they feel great with what they do, and they can joke about it, and they chose for it, then its just another job.

English isn't your first language so this may not be fair for you. Now here you are claiming i at some point told girls in amsterdam that they should be ashamed of their career choice? To say you're reaching is an understatement.

Would you also get uneasy if i made a comment on how overpriced the inmigration lawyers in Poland are? Some of them didn't have choice, they studied that cause they were forced by their parents, or because it makes the most money. would it upset you to?

You are actually trying to make a comparison between the general circumstances a woman finds herself in that leads her to prostitution and those of an immigration lawyer? You are actually comparing parents forcing their children to study to pimps and johns forcing their women to work and taking a sizable cut of their pay?

Again I'll ask you my earlier question, just something to ponder:

if you had a daughter would you find it funny if she sold her body despite not being in extreme need?

My original question was as to the mindset of someone who would make such a comment and think it funny. I think you've given me my answer.
mvefa 5 | 591  
9 Sep 2009 /  #50
if you had a daughter would you find it funny if she sold her body despite not being in extreme need?

If she is happy with the job, and she jokes about it, i would laugh together with her.

But consider this conversation over you really are making a storm of a glass of water.

good day!
SzwedwPolsce 11 | 1,594  
9 Sep 2009 /  #51
I know one thing that is not overpriced. Last week I bought watermelon for 0.99 zl/kg. And it was good quality. Haha, completely crazy.
OP Foreigner4 12 | 1,768  
10 Sep 2009 /  #52
i'm eating watermelon right now 48cents/lb
OsiedleRuda  
10 Sep 2009 /  #53
I know one thing that is not overpriced. Last week I bought watermelon for 0.99 zl/kg. And it was good quality. Haha, completely crazy.

Paki shops must have arrived in Poland at last! haha ;)

To be honest, I can't think of anything in Poland these days which isn't overpriced.

Polish food here in the UK is virtually the same price as in PL (but I earn 4-5x more here). Even transport isn't cheap any more - for example, my ticket from Warsaw to Gdansk was £23 one-way - which is about the same distance as Leeds to York, but we can get cheaper tickets (and journeys which take 2 hours less) on that route. Speaking to family, friends etc, the only people who seem to be doing OK in PL are expats on Western salaries.
Juche 9 | 292  
11 Sep 2009 /  #54
Speaking to family, friends etc, the only people who seem to be doing OK in PL are expats on Western salaries.

that has long been the case. Poland isnt too expensive if your western company sends you on a contract and you are paid what you would be in London or Boston. If you are a local earning local wage, Poland is expensive. no wonder so many Poles say stuff it and take off for good.
Wroclaw Boy  
11 Sep 2009 /  #55
I tell you whats cheap - meat. I eat tonnes of the stuff, fantastic marinated and smoked hams, loads of Pork, chicken and Turkey. All organic, natural produce, superb.

In England its ahh i'll have 200 grammes of Honey roast Ham, here i'll say two kilos please.
Harry  
11 Sep 2009 /  #56
Speaking to family, friends etc, the only people who seem to be doing OK in PL are expats on Western salaries.

Rubbish. I know plenty of foreigners out here as local hires who are earning decent wages. I also know a lot of Poles who have cash to burn.

Although with that said, I don't often venture outside of Warsaw, except for places that are very much off the beaten track so you pretty much expect to see goats wandering freely.
SzwedwPolsce 11 | 1,594  
11 Sep 2009 /  #57
Paki shops must have arrived in Poland at last!

Hehe... it was actually in Real (in a galeria).

Even transport isn't cheap any more

City-buses is about 2.50 zl. For me as a student, bus from Wawa Airport to centrum is 1.40 zl (30 min.). Train (2nd class) Wawa-Bialystok (about 200 km) is 45 zl (23 zl for students). I think you can travel rather cheaply in Poland compared to other countries.

But the cost of living in relation to average salary is terrible in PL.
Juche 9 | 292  
11 Sep 2009 /  #58
I eat tonnes of the stuff, fantastic marinated and smoked hams, loads of Pork, chicken and Turkey. All organic, natural produce, superb.

In England its ahh i'll have 200 grammes of Honey roast Ham, here i'll say two kilos please.

your colon must hate you, but then again that's none of my business haha
movetopoland 1 | 10  
12 Sep 2009 /  #59
Aftershave/perfume - a great deal more expensive than in the UK.

When I visited Poland we was right near the border, we drove to the Ukraine to buy all our perfume. To be honest it was so much cheaper we decided to sell everything in Poland for a profit.
Amanda91 1 | 135  
12 Sep 2009 /  #60
Most overpriced things in Poland?

Definitely houses (not everywhere tho).

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