Life / What do you like about Poland? [100]

I'm not familiar with any families NOT kissing one another at the airport/ train station...?

and as for ham... we got plenty here... including Polish, Russian, German, Spanish and Italian. Yes, Delis exist outside of Poland ;)

UK, Ireland / Homeless Poles living on barbecued rats and alcoholic handwash? [62]


You ever been unemployed Seanus, or wanted to better yourself in any way?

Love / Polish women world's second most flirtatious [75]


Generalizations weren't created here. They were brought here from "out there". At least here they can be hashed out.

Life / What do you like about Poland? [100]

The fact that i don't really understand it. But i get a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling when i'm there (that may be the wodka).

Poland is just so... so very Polish. In the south anyway, it's 50% highland hunter, 50% decadence. It is a beautiful part of the world, and the people have an inimitable elegance.

I wish I could return. :(

Life / What makes a "real" Pole? [33]

What if a Pole has spent a considerable time living in another country... when do they start not qualifying as being Poles...?

Or more importantly, how many significant events that shape Poland is one allowed to miss before he/she fails to be Polish enough?

I think if you feel an affinity for a country, it means you belong there... whether you can live there is another matter... that may be due to practicalities.

I think if anyone who has a love for the country and a notion (however disconnected) about how the country operates... then they are entitled to consider themselves as members of the polish community, but their notions about the country may be a little misjudged...

News / What's the stupidest question asked about Poland? [414]


This happens a lot unfortunately. people looove stereotypes. I blame the media.

I overheard a curious question tonight asked in a Polish restaurant.... The patron asked "does the red cabbage go well with the pork..." ;)

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]


Then my work here is done ;)

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]

1.I'm sorry, are you tying together the the issue of smoking with the national CONSTITUTION...? oh dear, you are grappling at straws...

2.there is no "someone else". They are your clients as well... do you not care for their rights...?

3.Surely the idea is to reduce risk... that is progress honey.

4.It's not what someone doesn't like... sheesh. It's what causes them potential harm. And it is easier to avoid others' agressive behaviour and violence than it is to avoid breathing in air. And i think you're missing the point that whether your excess drinking effects YOUR health or not, does not effect ME. Also, cars cause car accidents, not alcohol. ;)

5.So campaign against alcohol. No-one's saying it ain't bad (i know plenty of alcoholics who would disagree). we are arguing about cigarette smoke and that only. Apples and pears my friend.

Australia / New start in Australia (technical electronic study) [7]

Hi there.

Don't have much advice for you as i've only just returned myself. But i'm sure in two years you will have it all sorted. Try and improve your English if you can as that will help immensely.

I gather you want to leave Poland for good and settle here... that's great. Where in particular? What do you know of the place (apart from kosciusko?) ;) and do you have family "downunder"?

You do know there are snakes here... ;)

Cheers

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]


Yes, this IS the nature of subjective opinion. But I can see the positives from where i'm standing.

It's a matter of weighing up health/ the environnment against other national priorities.

It's one of those "common good" approaches that ironically no-one individually supports.

Travel / A week in Krakow (February) - info about weather, hotels, and traffic [28]

I spent some time in Krakow... very nice indeed. Take something to protect your ears from wind chill.

Love / Why are Polish women so sexy ? [390]

Yes, what is the catch phrase today.... Sustainable!

Love / Why are Polish women so sexy ? [390]

yes, but not more than the downstairs...;)

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]


Not really mate... you make out as if cigarette revenue is holding up the public purse!

There are other things to tax, like the rich, use of water, carbon tax, transport etc etc.

You could ban smoking - it wouldn't mean that people still wouldn't smoke... there'd always be the hardcore.

Besides, then they could just legalise and tax other drugs... like marijuana.

You make out as if a healthy population somehow costs the public money. What about fit healthy people with active minds breeding healthy babies... surely this is good for any economy. Besides the money spent on cigarettes could always be spent on other goods, thereby contributing to public revenue.

Love / Why are Polish women so sexy ? [390]

So that's what you guys like... lack of transparancy...?

I guess as long as SHE'S clear about what's going on upstairs...

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]

As a non-smoker who has lived in countries where i have seen these reforms work, it has helped me realise that there is life after "smoking pubs".

I'm neither an American liberalist nor a British cynic, but I am an optimistic Aussie who makes their argument on the basis that non smokers have a right to enjoy a beer without breathing in toxic smoke. And unfortunately this requires uniform reforms across the whole sector for it to work.

It would be nice if pubs weren't private dens for smokers. (Admittedly it works a little better here because we have a climate that you don't mind exposing yourself to most of the year to have a cigarette.)

Publicans run their business hopefully in line with responsible health reforms like these finally proposed by PL gov. Why should they be the cowboys of the service trade?

Unfortunately it's a sign of how entrenched smoking has become in our drinking culture. It's one habit that is filthy, unhealthy, expensive, and highly addictive, and you will never get consensus while there are smokers who need to smoke. I'm glad I gave up. I didn't understand until i did...

Cigarettes are more dangerous than guns and marlboro man is so yesterday...

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]

I guess what the government are saying is "your cigaratte smoke costs the tax payer too much in hospital bills and we need to ut a stop to it."

Just because there is an established cultural "norm", doesn't mean that norm shouldn't change. If, as you say, the majority of pub users DO frequent smoking pubs, well how much do we know about how many of these patrons actually smoke? or how much the "norm" of going to regularly frequented smoking pubs with smoking buddies plays a part in "non-smoking" pubs not getting a competitive edge?

Old city pubs (esecially in Poland) will always tend to be more popular then new establishments, especially when they offer the convenience of a predicatable social experience. How does this general cycle exacerbate this societal "norm" that links non smokers and the young to a life of smoking...? This can't be a good thing.

With the right reforms, this could work. And it needs to happen sooner or later.

Cigarettes need to be phased out, and this needs to start in places where smokers and potential smokers mingle. To break the cycle. Can't you see that? I'm sorry if you will struggle to pay your rent, perhaps providing slot machines or dancing girls will ease the burden...;)

And you just never know, you might find that non-smokers end up drinking more... i know i don't smoke, and that gives me more money for my Tyskies.

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]


banned from pubs...? We are talking bout the rationale behind banning a substance which once lit has known effects on the cardiovascular and respiratory system of ALL who come into contact with it. And these are DIRECT EFFECTS. They do not discriminate between people, and are not based on emotional manifestations in the user, which, I assume, you are alluding to when you highlight alcohol as having a similarly detrimental effect.

You are comparing the effects of alcohol and cigarettes on society, and I am maintaining my argumant that pubs are public places and as such should offer an environment that is as free of direct health risks as possible. Including the unavoidable health risk of passive smoke inhalation with known carcinogens.

The causality between second hand cigarette smoke inhalation and health, and second hand alcohol consumption and health, cannot be compared my friend.

You can be as responsible a cigarette user as you like, but your smoke will still effect me if we are sharing the same public place. Pubs are still public places aren't they...? Let's put the PUBLIC back in PUB.

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]

lol, you don't care about smokers... you just care about having customers. Bars weren't open as private dens for smokers. And alcohol is NOT inseparable from cigarettes.

If imposing a ban on smoking proved to be good for business, we wouldn't be having this discussion. You are just worried because there is a strong association between drinking and smoking - and frankly it needs to change. If you are so entrepreneurial perhaps you will see new opportunitites where this is concerned...?

Unfortunately "smoking bars" as you call them are in the majority strictly because it is not cometitive to have it any other way.

In these cases government intervention is required so that traders who are trying to do something responsible voluntarily, are not penalised. You need a level platform just so that entrepreneurial activitiy can remain intact and healthy.

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]

no, no, no, no. At the root of this issue is a very personal and human right, and that is what we BREATHE into our lungs. These other issues are superfluous or are less closely connected with one's health.

Smoking pub? Smokers made pubs "smoking pubs". The fact the most clientele smoked was inseperable from the fact that most people smoked. Thankfully, most people have wisened up.

Unfortunately for Poland you are still very much behind in terms of general public health messages. It's worked a charm here in Australia TEN YEARS ago, and i think everyone is enjoying the benefits.

Anything like this is difficult and ghastly to implement in Poland because of the layers of bureaucracy (evident here) which the poles are so famed for.

Law / Investors/Entrepreneurs.. Steer Clear of Poland. [77]

Either the government is running the joint or business is running it. Poland is stuck with the former i fear.

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]


we are talking about air... the last vestige of common wealth.

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]

Smokers are in denial.... Just like gambling addicts. It's NOT socially acceptable to expect ANYONE to breathe in your cigarette smoke. Point f*cking blank.

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]

Hmmm, less people in pubs or less people dying off heart and lung disease...?

Are smokers without their wits!?

Law / Investors/Entrepreneurs.. Steer Clear of Poland. [77]

From my experience with Poles... they're all bureaucrats, but none are diplomats.

I guess that's where the environment influences them. No can do attitude...

News / What's the stupidest question asked about Poland? [414]

So you had to get rid of her? ;)

USA, Canada / Moved back from Canada to Poland:). Here are the reasons why. [868]

^^^ yawn ^^^

You are obsessed with the workings of his/ her meteorological mind. Do you work for the MET?

a real fiery conversationalist aren't you?

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]


how is a non smoking bar a "concept"?

News / What's the stupidest question asked about Poland? [414]

Do Poles have severe inferiority complexes?