UK, Ireland / The more subtle differences: Ireland/Britain v Poland [310]

[quote=Cardno85]Olaf:
- Jan Kowalski proszę!
or
- Zebediah Johnston please :)
No need to say the surname first and then the first name.

In Poland there are protocols that govern when, why and how people address each other.
It is primarily regulated by levels of kinship between peoples, age, status, and respect all subject to environmental and professional setting and circumstance.

(with rare exceptions of really close friendship/ kinship) anyone addressing you in any official capacity will do this formally regardless of the age or status or relationship of the person in question Pan, Pani X, i.e.: which is cognate with Sir or Lady, anything less was and is considered disrespectful (a slant), while calling someone their first name is a directed insult to your personal dignity.

In less official setting, if you know the person closely and this person had invited you to call them by their first name then it’s cool to use it, but there are sometimes exceptions when in official capacity, or when circumstance dictates to uphold the seriousness of the situation.

This same is with the handshake; theoretically it is considered polite to be offered a hand in handshake by your senior or older person if you do not know them, otherwise you risk being considered an oaf, but once this hurdle has been breached there are no restrictions on initiation.

However when you meet bunch of peers in new setting who already know each other it is up to them (one of them) to initiate the handshake, sort of welcome you in to their group.

Not every one gets a shake hands even if you know each other, again it is a mark of respect, acceptance and belonging, equality and acknowledgement and much much more.

With the handshake you get to know the person, it tell the character, and can tell you all you want to know about the person. It is the sword arm, held without the weapon, open, in peace, sign of trust and respect, given freely; it’s a window to the person like eyes.

History / My Great Grand father took part in the Battle of Warsaw! [90]

Costi you have made one observation that is so true, that in unity lays strength.

I have to apologies to you all, from short replay I have written rather long post for you and anyone else to chew on.

But it may give some perspective on ‘Polish’ people and explain in humble few words why after 123 years of oppression and forced russification, germanization by peoples akin to yourself we prevail.

What is termed Poland is nothing more then an idea shared by peoples of probably the most diverse ethnic grouping in the Europe that found its expression thorough out history in one or the other form on the map with a tag name of ‘Poland’ attached to it, always has been that way and although to lesser degree it still persist in the minds of the good portion of Polish culture and society.

In ’45 piece of territory oscillating in around traditional lands of Polonia Major and Minor plus anything else that was salvaged from the ruins it had been artificially nationalized by ‘Polish’ and named Poland of Polska Republika Ludowa, PRL, and settled with millions of peoples who considered or simply declared themselves Polish.

Polish are not homogeneous ethnic group rather the opposite, nor are they Slavic after ‘Russian’ fashion.

When Russians occupied eastern territories of Poland in ’39, everyone regardless of background was made “Russian”. (btw – What was or is called Russian today has got nothing to do with the Ruthenians or the inhabitants of Red and White Russia, instead it is an convenient invention by czars to unite bunch of peoples giving them identity national idea under their absolute rule as well as attempting to legitimize their expansion westwards by usurping white and red Russian relation ship and nothing more)

And yet millions of those “liberated” peoples decided to leave your “communist paradise” and the unity and live in the place where this burning Idea was still alive.

For this Idea is at the root of all and everything what man can have, that cannot be ever taken away from him or her even in death and destruction.

You have no conscious knowledge of it or comprehension, it was suppressed and bread out of you for centuries and yet you feel it, long for it, even believe that you are in possession of it, only sometimes it briefly it burns inside that pain you do not understand when you suppress it.

In Poland it is the essence of our consciousness, a cultural rather then ethnical mark that signifies the moment in the our history where mostly different and unrelated tribes (circa 13 judging on the heraldry and historical accounts) living in and about the region of today’s Poland gathered together and united under certain principles that permeate our culture to this day.

It made us very strong, indomitable people who when working together, we can survive everybody and anything that can be dished out at us, today, yesterday or tomorrow even for thousand years if needs be.

And yes as you have implied earlier: It also puts us in disadvantage; sometimes we are quarrelsome with each other, independent and opinionated, arguing about bullshit and hating it, making decisions by debating them, making wrong decision by majority voting, arguing about everything and nothing and barely reaching compromise that no body is satisfied with, most of all complaining about people who complain LoL.

All that fuzz, and the way we go about our business is due to this burning and alive idea in our spirit that is the source of both our weakness and strength, it is the price we pay surrounded peoples like yourself

It made us independent individual human beings (at least some of us), and not merely an automatons and for as long as even just one ‘Pole’ will walk this earth we shell prevail.

The power of this idea is such that it transcendent ethnicity and unites peoples beyond national borders, albeit those who comprehend it and value it are fewer in numbers.

Are we extremely special? Yes and No, it happen before and it happens all over the world, we just had been unfortunate to be surrounded by absolute monarchies that perceived us as a threat (remember it took all three “superpowers” of that time, Civil Wars and massed armies to finally feast on our flesh and become actual superpowers)

I tell you Costi, to truly know something learn different perspectives with open mind.

Btw

My Grandfather as an officer in the rank of Captain in the cavalry fought Bolsheviks since the day one, then in 1920 in Poland after that conspired against the ‘communist’ gangs running the country until 1974 when he died in suspicious circumstances.

Although conservative, he was liberal social democrat :>

So, Nothing is truly black and white, is it not Costi?