Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]


Cig fags for women, fairy fags for men I meant, hahaah.
Seriously now, maybe it is rather eating habits and a bit more active lifestyle, or gens than smoking? I don't know...

Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]

Yo have just convinced me! :)) Fags for women should be subsidised.

News / Crucifixes to stay in Polish schools [364]

A Swedish guy once said to me when we were discussing a similar topic that "The Church in Sweden has gone bankrupt... a thousand years ago". He might ahave put it well, anyway well enough that I still remember it.

News / Crucifixes to stay in Polish schools [364]


You just wrote the foundation for a religion! Along with the above is also conformism.

Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]


Yes, but either the restrictions are low or they are not being followed. If it was eficient then I wouldn't have a problem with going to some bars. Simply the ventillation would suck up the smoke, but now my clothes do it instead. In some places it is also not easy to have good, efficient ventillation - like almost all bars/clubs in basments around old market sqares. Or maybe the staff does not turn it on to save on electricity or maka foggy atmosphere.


We don't know how long it'll take. Many people wish not to wait.
I do get your point, but I see we're poles apart.
I


I wrote that it is not like a typical private property - like your home etc. If you open your doors and let people in to make profit out of that, you should follow some regulations - I wrote that before and it is the same for me to have safety standards, fire escapes routes, and effective ventillation at least.

Food / Prices of decent Polish Vodka in Poland? [15]

@Harry:
Thanks! Well I suppose if you get it from the source then there's no risk. Ask him about the counterfeits on the market. I quickly browsed these sites (in Polish):


You can find some information about illegal production of Bols and others.

News / Crucifixes to stay in Polish schools [364]


- An example for what? Is Holland a bad example? Poland could really use some of Holland's liberal attitudes (some, not all maybe, but that is another topic). And as far as fair attitude towards religion is concerned, Holland compared to Poland is eons ahead [even though the difference between them is only two letters;)]

Food / Prices of decent Polish Vodka in Poland? [15]


Done that. I'd say it is rather the matter of purity and proper distillation than personal factors (them too but not so much as the quality).

Bols used to be (not sure about now) one of the most commonly counterfeited vodkas, I read one estimate that about 1/3 of Bols sold in shops is fake. And it was almost impossible to tell the difference (only the next day) - the "forgerers" used the same bottles and even holograms could be compromised.

Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]


Of course, I agree, but we all have such laws now, a lot of them. This one would be actually the best of the bad laws:)

- Running a bar is a special kind of business as you open your premises for the public and therefore make the place public in this sense (maybe not in legal sense, let some lawyer here explain?). So bar owners actually can and should and are subject to some general "public" laws, such as health and safety (Polish SANEPID), fire safety regulations, and lots of others. Just ask a bar owner what permissions s/he had to obtain prior to opening the bar.

I think maybe it could be stated that a proprietor of a bar has to establish either smoking or non-smoking bar (and presumably pay some higher health tax!) and there actually should be special BARS FOR SMOKERS not other way round. That is a soluion: I just turned the anti-ban ramblers' argument into my own:).

Why then such a law was imposed in some other countries in Europe. Do you think Sweden and many other countries made mistake or protected their citizens etc?

News / Crucifixes to stay in Polish schools [364]

An open mind you have. That goes a long way. I admire that.

News / Crucifixes to stay in Polish schools [364]


What about the suposed 10% then? It is much less than 90% of real believers as the oficial doctrine of the Church allows no exceptions or open-mindness and not many people manage to act according to it; fake followers as said above, but not many people do something with that as the procedure of "signing-out from the club" is deliberately complicated and priests most often refuse to give the confirmation documents after aposthasia. Hence the big error in statistics. The other reason is the pressure of Polish almost-homogeneous society.

You would see better how many real believers roman catholic church has in Poland if tax was imposed on them. You declare your creed - you pay "subscription fee" in tax. So far EVERYONE has to pay for the roman catholic church even if they are e.g. muslim or atheist in Poland.

Cannot it be separated? Let's use some commercial terms: You pay for the service you use, and you should choose which one you want from the providers on the market. Or not choose any. In this case it is the service of connecting you with your god. Other christian creeds for example do not require brokers [meaning the Church or priests]for connecting. It is like forcing somebody to go only to Biedronka stores even though you had indigestion and diarhea after eating crapy food you had to buy there. And you can't stop leaving your money there. What if you want to shop at Tesco or Bomi? Or even... make your own food, huh?

(I hope some of you will grab at least a thread of humor in this if not, sorry)

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Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]

Where's the smoke there's fire, they say (slighlty twisted Polish saying Nie ma dymu bez ognia), hehe.

But more seriously:
The reason why there should be a law banning smoking in cafes and restaurants etc. is that laws are (ideally) to protect people and to impose order. We all find some laws we don't like (for some it's: speed limits on highways, legalization of some narcotics but not other, bureaucracy etc.), but so far we haven't figured out a better way to introduce order. And sadly I have to say it is very common for smokers not to respect the non-smokers rights, while rambling on their right to smoke. Smokers can smoke. Is their weak will and proneness to addiction so bad that they need this right to smoke everywhere? That's simply not respecting any rights but their own, let alone the health argument. I'd call that narrow-minded and very biased.

Food / Prices of decent Polish Vodka in Poland? [15]


I see Harry knows what's best. I was testing vodka actually.
There are other great brands, but this one is really good.

Here I found some random wholesale prices:

Wyborowa, 0.5 litre - around 17 zł, but why not buy bigger bottles.

Also safe choice: Luksusowa, Żołądkowa Gorzka.

And do not buy some bad brand, the quests (and you) may have a nasty hangover or at least bad memories from the reception after not genuine brands like Absolwent [suprisingly popular, but suspiciously similar looks to Smirnoff, wonder why? ;))], Lodowa, Sieradzka...

cheers

Food / can I find curd and sour cream in Poland? [24]

Well, don't know Bialystok, but you should be able to buy it in ANY "spozywczy" shop. Thats FMCG and nothing rare. Sour cream is usually packed like yoghurts, sweet cream like milk, in small carton boxes.

Travel / Mosques in Krakow? [131]


That could fit in Krakow architecture like nothing:)
______________

And maybe: no churches, no mosques, no houses of worship - NO PROBLEMS

So much hatred and damage to other people because of creeds and it is still 90 % bigotry.

Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]

Last time I checked, hell was free of charge. It came as an added value for one's deeds if one subscribed to any hell theory supporting religion:)))

Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]


Hell? I am not paying for that! Hell no! :)))

News / Crucifixes to stay in Polish schools [364]

@Arien:

That is bold to write. But it is also very true and accurate.

Travel / Live Music in Krakow or Warsaw [15]

When in In Kraków check Harris Piano Jazz Bar, they have live music everyday, pick a day and check on their website who's playing and what.

Also Coltrane Restaurant have very nice atmosphere, little soul or rather jazz music there.

cheers

News / Crucifixes to stay in Polish schools [364]

If they want to stick to religion in Polish suposedly secular country there should also be other symbols, but let the crucifix be e.g. 5 cm bigger than other emblems, as Christianity has been imposed in Poland for 1044 years now (so that's 0.05 mm for every year). I propose Flying Spaghetti Monster and Cthulhu along with it. Bocononism also goes a long way!

Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]


Yes, I had to buy some green sticker for 15 euro (or sthg like that) to place on the windshield if I wnated to drive inside Berlin. But I have an ordinary car, not so environmentally friendly. Most cases this is a one time fee, depending on the type of car etc. (diesel)

Or maybe you are talking about sthg different?


How do you know? If you go to hospital in a week or so... Anyway I don't wish you that of course. But someone may be paying for you in the future, you increase this chance greatly.

Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]


Touche!


Ok, but this is what, like a 0.1% of the traffic or even less? It's such a small number that it falls into "interesting but insufficient" category;)


Do you have any idea of how many people die and/or get terminally ill of smoking or involountary inhaling tobacco? Fat is not as great enemy and noone forces anyone to eat excessive amounts of fat (McDonald's is also your choice I myself am not tempted that much). I am quite thin, with average cholesterol, but I'm getting poisoned everytime I enter any bar because of the smoke.

Are you so lazy that you are not willing to go out for a smoke? I think this is actually a good law to impose (one of few I agree, but "letting the nature to decide" is not applicable here) but it'll serve EVERYONE, even you who don't agree with it. I didn't want to sound like that but I need to point out also that the costs of treatment of each person with lung cancers and other smoking-caused diseases is on the whole society. That is very expensive and not many of those people have ever paid for their treatment. How do you argue that? I don't want to be paying for your cancer treatment. Or mine because of you. Smoker:))))

Life / Do you really have to pay for your dogs to live in Poland [15]


You should've thought before you let your doggie be pregnant. Killing at birth? Why not get the vasectomy/sterilization (if that's a correct terminology)? It's cheaper than those fines and not to mention - more sane.

Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]


Hahaha, I love this comparison (kudos to you for that)!


It is impossible to ban the things you mention, and it is possible to regulate smoking in public places, which would then give the choice not to inhale someone's "exhaust fumes". It is about that choice. Don't say that people who don't want to smell like smokes can always stay home - that is not much of a choice, is it :). And I bet it wouldn not hurt you to go every now and then to go out to smoke, seriously.

Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]


Your friends are either smokers or they are not assertive. Have you thought about what they like?? Maybe blowing the smoke in their faces in not exactly the type of fun they'd like. Or maybe not.


Yeah, everyone can just pick a job they like and get it. Especially when you're a bartender or a waitress you have a whole bunch of non-smoking bars to work at and they all wait with open arms. You always have an option not to work, you're right! It's like saying to a welder that he can work safely when he buys his goggles and other safety equipment or work without it with no protection and go blind. Simple choice you say...

Law / Car Insurance for a foreigner living in Poland on a temporary permit [6]


Yes, exactly. And here's a nice tip: also YOU can claim a re-count during your period of insurance as your car looses value.
You can experience this always when your (insured) car got some dent or other damage and you claim your insurance. At first they never pay you the percentage of amount for which you insured stating that the car has lost it's value since then and you are not entitled to get it. Since insurance companies make use of this argument then their clients can too, but not many people think of it.

Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]


Dunno. There isn't many smoke-free places, but the number is growing I think.
It's a matter of awareness and culture I guess however, this particularly should be regulated by some law as there is no bad side of imposing such ban. Would it be very problematic to go out for a smoke? I haven't seen anyone whining about it outside Poland and I also did go outside if felt such a need. The only problem is that now really good bars that many would want to visit stink and don't have good ventilation and smoke-absorbing system. And after such a visit all clothes, everything smell bad. Real bad! :)

I think that this ban would make smokers smell less also :))

I found these two websites:

LokalBezPapierosa.pl
PolskaBezDymu.pl

Law / Car Insurance for a foreigner living in Poland on a temporary permit [6]

Hi Ambrose,
Well, it seems that the previous car owner had discounts and you have less. So when the car was changing it's owners there was a difference created and they calculated it on the basis of: your age, any previous discounts, how long you posess driving licence, age of the car etc. (hence they were asking you many questions). That is not a huge difference though, depending on the make of the car and other details.

You can try to find a cheaper insurance company for the future insurance period. Write me a pm if you need details.

cheers

Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]


What about this whole lot of places that you cannot easily say if it's a bar/pub or a restaurant. Pubs serve meals too. Should this count?

It's simple - noone would deny right to smoke. You want to smoke - you go outside (or to smoker's room etc.) without affecting the whole place. The majority of society does not smoke. Now it is upside down - non-smokers have not much option and what's important I think - the staff has no option but to inhale the smoke either. It is not a problem now in some other countries which imposed this ban. People just go outside for a smoke. Is it so hard?

Law / residence visa stamp (Asian girl with a Polish husband) [9]

Hi there,

I don't see a problem here. PESEL does not have much to do with residency here. If they require proof of your residency in Poland then you prove it, PESEL is something different (it's personal number). For proving your residency you should provide your residency card and/or 'zameldowanie' - registration of address of stay, which you do separately.

If you need any details you can write to me.