Queuing and Polish people

Since getting back here in March I have been on four buses that have been involved in accidents in the centre of Warsaw. On one an elderly lady was pretty badly hurt. On another I thought a car driver was going to kill the bus driver after the car driver cut in to force the bus to pull over, the bas### couldn't care less that the bus was full of people, many of whom were standing and then proceed to have fistycuffs with the bus driver on the pavement.

The statistics for road accidents during the All Saints day holiday weekend were 56 killed, over 200 injured and 500 plus drunk driving offences. Sadly that will be another 56 people whose families will be laying flowers and placing candles on their graves next year on Nov 1st.

- Wow, really? Have Polish press informed about the alleged 'accidents'?


- How do these alleged statistics compare to similar statistics in other countries?

In NWE they say it was 99 killed that weekend, most of them pedestrains and cyclists on the country roads.


not very favourably , intersting article here warsawvoice.pl/view/15518

I grew up in the UK and in 28 years maybe saw 2 accidents actually happen real time and saw the aftermath of an accident maybe once or twice a year. Here in Poland I see a live accident about every 4 months and the aftermath of an accident every second day.

Generally people here have no shame when it comes to queue jumping, ususally it is the old people who are the worst, but it the young do it to. but it seems to be getting better with time...my favourite is at the pharmacy, when some shameless old toad meekly sticks her head into the window just after saying "excuse me folks, just one quick question..." then she just slides in and wastes half an hour of everyone's life.

the only true hope for Poland in this sphere is the take-a-number system which fortunately are being introduced in most post offices and many shops...

Yes that is a classic manoeuvre, I’ve even seen it happen in the post office where they use the take-a-number system.

There is also the 'dual queuing' system that couples use at the supermarket, where they split up and join two queues to see who what will be quickest. Not technically queue jumping but pisses me off no end.

yes but when you see that behavior, a throwback to commie days maybe, you have to nip it in the bud and rebel. I used to just stare in astonishment and shake my head in disgust but after seeing it so many times I have started to do my civic duty and yell at them even if they are old ladies (they are usuaslly the worst offenders) - sometimes a nice "Hey lady we're waiting too" is what's called for, and when they look at you with that sh*tty accusing stare you just have to counter back "I've just got a quick question too, but I'm waiting in line to ask it, and so should you"

Ha-ha-ha, do you really believe that gets in the papers here? It has to be something pretty serious for that, like the bus crashing off the flyover or the small plane crashing on the autostrada.

The papers are too full of articles on which businessman/politician is in prison, which businessman/politician is going to prison and finally which businessman/politician should be in prison!

They do brighten up the place dont they. Very handy when you've just remembered its the wife's birthday also.

- Well, so how can you prove you're telling the truth, and not lying? Can you give dates, exact location, tell which bus it was, etc.? I'm really keen on confirming your story.

Actually, when you listen to rado stations in Poland, they inform about any important things happening right now, e.g. in Warsaw.

As for me, I visit Poland frequently, and have never seen any accident, including bus accidents. I wonder why?

As for those other things they write about in papers, they write so in many other countries, don't they?


- It's funny, but I (almost) grew up in Poland and have seen very few accidents there.

And I have seen quite a few accdents in the UK.

Isn't it funny how these things work?

I'll check out your stats. I know stats can be falsified, just as any other media statements. And Poland has been vilified by the media psychopaths the world over.

From this week's NWE

Poland’s annual All Saints weekend pilgrimage
to the graves of loved ones left
at least 99 dead and 942 injured in road
traffic accidents around the country.
Officials reported the traditional clampdown
on drink-driving had seen nearly
2,000 people caught over the legal limit in
the four days of the long weekend.
“This is a huge number,” said Police HQ’s
chief spokesman Krzysztof Hajdas. “There
are so many people travelling to their families
– we’re just appealing to people to act
sensibly.”
Some 10,000 police officers were out on
the country’s roads over the weekend.
As usual, the vast majority of the weekend’s
dead were pedestrians and cyclists,
hit by cars while riding home on narrow,
dark country roads, often used as major
thoroughfares.
“We appeal for drivers to pay attention
[and], given the poor visibility, to pay particular
attention to pedestrians,” said
Hajdas. “They are a large part of those
killed.”

You think official statisticians in foreign countries exaggerate numbers dying on Poland's roads because they dont like Polish people?

Can you explain what that means?


Where and when, I would like locations and the names and addresses of those involved in the accidents !!

Maybe in the village you are from it was very rare for one horse and cart to crash into another? Or maybe it was in the days when not many Poles had access to proper fast cars and drove around in Fiat 'Maluchy', Polonez and my personal fave the 'Tarpan' and not mercs, beamers, hummers (yes I have seen a few here) etc. Although I believe that if a 'maluch' was in a crash with a Polonez only the Polonez driver would step out of the car unharmed, smoke a cigarette and walk home!

Did you see Db1984's post about NWE saying 99 were killed over the weekend. That's almost double what I said! Does that mean that I am only half as anti-Polish as the folks at NWE?

By the way I need to revise my stat for drunk driver arrests. I checked and it now stands at over 2000 for that weekend! Actually Szarlotka mentions that fact

What are the punishments like for drink driving in Poland? My wife's family have a couple of stories of crashing whilst drunk. The resulting punishments were either lax or non-existent.

Is it taken seriously in the media there?

when will they learn...?

Try boarding any tunnel train connecting terminals in an airport - then you get to mix all cultures to win the award for worse combined queue jumping.

I used to say when I worked for the airline industry when my mainly American customer base would queue jump all over the place - especially when boarding the plane to Las Vegas - who the hell cares, you are all on the same vehicle going the same direction at the same velocity :o)

As long as your a** is on the train before the door closes - or so that your body interruptes the closing the the door (while not recommended - can be effective ;-) ) what does it matter.

on the one hand, old folks have paid their dues damnit.

but on the other hand, what is dishonest is dishonest, therefore i have taken a zero tolerance position.

If it bothers you then do something about it or you gotta change your perspective.

don't be afraid to spot the queue jumper and hold eye contact, get close hold eye contact and if they still jump give them about 5 sec of evil eye then engage with your best (translate as you like) "hey lady the queue ends back there, not here." i've only had to go that far once and it did escalate but oh well.

bad manners, rudeness and hostility is a trait of human beings, i would say, and has no bearing on being, polish, english, american or any other nationality. i am in england and us brits are pretty rude sometimes, not me personally you understand, many a time i have held open doors for people in shops and stores, even waiting for the person to reach it, and dont get me started on kids who dont have respect on buses, they will sit there and watch elderly people, pregnant women and people with heavy shopping bags, but will not offer them their seat.

Agree totally