Love / Unmarried couples in Poland = pathology [310]

Today's trendy shack-up mentality is equated by some with total freedom, a lack of restrictive commitments, doing your own thing, even the modern, preferable solution to outdated marriage. If such fly-by-night arrangements are so good and modern, then why are such households more of a a hotbed of domestic violence, alcoholism, drugs, infidelity and confused, unhappy children than those of married couples?

There is a constant stream of such news reports coming out of Poland (probably other countries as well, but our focus on PF is Poland). Here is but one of them:

tvp.info/informacje/polska/matka-i-konkubent-znecali-sie-nad-dziecmi/2743866

News / No de-Communisation in Poland? [41]

Is it true that Poland was the only Soviet-bloc ciountry (except for the USSR itself andf maybe the Balkans whoa re always mucked up anyway) that did not carry out any meaningful de-communisation process? There were feeble attempts -- the Macierewicz files, lustracja, the Wildstein data base, etc., but those resposnible for the 45 years of PRL misgovernment and mismanagement have never been brought to justice.

Food / Supermarket or small corner shop for grocery shopping in Poland? [23]

Do you prefer food shopping at supermarkets or vising the shops -- family-owned groceries, bake shops, butcher's, fishmongers, etc. Or both? Why?
The Polish markets in Michigan are a lot like the old corner grocery, esp. where meat is concerned. They've got these long butcher counters where meat is on view in glass-front, refrigerated display cases, you take a number and when it turns up you get to pick out the cut you want and discuss things and with a real, live, flesh and blood butcher (or butcherette). The mainline American supermakets have self-serve open meat counters where everything is pre-packaged and you can't see what the bottom is like (through the styrofoam tray) so you never know what you're throwing into the trolley.

History / What was better in Poland under communism? [67]

For those old enough to remember, what aspects of life under communism, if any, are fondly remembered by you? Would you like some of them to come back? If so, which?

Personally, I feel a major loss was the demise of the net shopping bag or classic 'siatka'. The transition to those filmy plastic bags in which even a single apple or bread roll is placed into, plus all the other excessive plastic and paper packaging, has contaminated the landscape, plugged up drain pipes (exacerbating the flood situation in palaces) and necessitated a huge and costly recycling campaign. Finally someone thought up the reusable eco shopping bags and is raking in the dough selling them. But all of that would have been unnecessary if the humble but effective 'siatka' had survived. The small stretch type could be rolled up and kept in a pocket or lady's handbag always ready for use.

UK, Ireland / Do East-Central European migrants in the UK differ? [16]

To the UK-ers on PF...have you noticed any discernible differences amongst the migrants from the 8 different new Central-East European EU states in terms of work ethic, money management, sociability, pastimes, English language skills,etc.? Or can they by and large be safely lumped together?

Life / When will Poland join the 21st century, many other countries are already there. [3]

When will Poland finally join the 21st century? There is plenty of evidence all about that many other countries are already there. Probably the best place to start is by rivisng that outdated and unrealistic code of conduct imposed on mankind by a Jew (Moses).

1. Worship only your one true god: mammon and the power, influence, prestige and pleasures that go with it.
2. Fill private and public space with curses, obscenities and vulgarisms without restraint to your heart’s content.
3. Spend the Sabbath nursing a hangover, shopping at the mall and drinking once again once after the previous day’s after-effects wear off.
4. Honour your father and mother as long as you can sponge off them, whilst pretending to be the ideal son or daughter.
5. Do not kill because you will probably be caught, but take out a contract if you have to eliminate an obnoxious spouse, in-law or business partner.

6. Do not restrain your sex drive. You only live once so be sure to sample life in all its rich variety: hetero, homo, bi, trio, paedo, zoo, necro, etc.

7. Take whatever you need or fancy, because you probably need it more than the one you’re stealing from; remember that the big shops are all insured against shoplifting and theft.

8. Bear false witness, commit perjury or otherwise spread untruths whenever necessary, because lies make life easier and more convenient.
9. Nothing motivates you more to have a fuller and richer sex life (see No. 6 above) than coveting your neighbour’s wife, partner, girlfriend, underage kids or pets.

10. Nothing motivates one better to outdo one’s neighbour than coveting his possessions and becoming determined to surpass his material status by hook or by crook or by hook (including No. 7 above).