What can citizens do to make Poland a better place to live?

yesterday was also eventful: i was holding on to the handrail inside the tram and a man was barging through to get out; between me and him was another man, who started karate-chopping my hand because it was allegedly in his way. I say to him: what you doing, for the love of God? He say in frustrated tone: your hand is grabbing me. I say "What?? You are crazy!" He mutters something and walks away. Crazy Polish, lacking in socialistic philosophy!

Re the cartoon of the drowning man calling for help, it just got me to thinking that not so long ago the British were looked upon world-wide as the epitome of all that is prim and proper, decorum to the hilt, polite, reserved, couretous, restrained and famaous for the gross understatemet. And then we have the yob slobs that now descend on Kraków and Wrocław for stag nights...

Can any of you Brits clue me in on when exactly that change took place. I've got the impression it was around the time of the Queens' silver anniversary when some dingbat rock-shlock group starting saying "F--- the Queen!" Grateful for any insights.

work hard play hard

I've heard others complain of these stag nights. What are they like, drunken mobs of Brits come to town raising hell all night?

basically yeh, ive seen some scottish dudes with kilts jumping up and down in Wroclaw Rynek with their balls flying all over the place. Polish people were looking on with disgust. Imagine brits free of their wives and girlfriends unleashed an mass with cheep beer for a long weekend. result = carnage

Well, in Poland maybe. They've long been loathed in Greece and Spain as beery troublemakers. Possibly up until now most English coming to Poland were expat children or middle class academic types hoping to learn the language or break new ground in 'Eastern Europe'. Cheap travel really brought the worst side of the UK to Poland.

Not sure about the all night though most of them are plastered by 14:00, they cant handle the Polish beer.

So Polish beer is cheap and strong?

That and the fact that the shots here are 40ml compared to the 25ml shots in the UK.

Learn to drive! Seriously, people ask me how I find driving on the right hand side of the road. I don't have a problem... it's all the idiots driving on the left who are the problem. Audis overtaking 3 or 4 at a time in the face of oncoming traffic.

Also, try waiting a second for another car to move before trying to squeeze an entire car into a 1mm gap.

Pedestrians... try remembering a car can't always see you before you walk across the back of a reversing vehicle.

^^^seriously, it's so wierd here in that, you can be pulling into a parking space and someone, man or woman, will go right in front so you gotta stop and they'll do it to avoid the oh, say, 3 or 4 extra steps to go around a moving vehicle. And yes, pedestrians that actually look before crossing would be a good thing.

And then you have the "oh you don't mind do you?" dorks that will pull up on the left lane of an entire queue so that they can get in front. When I mouth the words "co ty ***** robisz?" they try to get all uppity like they're completely in the right-I hate them.

So I was drivin down a road the other week and there was still lots of snow at that time. Anyway buddy is coming the opposite direction and I pull over so that he can get by-why not right? This dickhead pulls up beside me and starts cussing that i didn't pull over enough for him.

So after such a polite response to my insolence I tell him to shut himself up and that he had enough space and just go (if i could have pulled over more i would have but as i wrote there was loads of snow so). This idiot was completely in the wrong but had to put on a show for his female passenger and started flappin his mouth even worse until i unbuckle and exit so we can discuss things in a more in-depth manner. So I was just getting exiting my vehicle when low-and-behold, he did have enough space and drove away.

This is what I don't get, he obviously had enough space but decided to try his hand at being a jerk-off to the guy that tried to make that little moment of his life easier.

I hate the patriarchal macho b.s. that is expressed in Polish driving culture either that or Poles are continually trying to convince themselves and everyone else that they're better than one another.

ahh it's been awhile since one of my driving rants, ventilation is good!

To right! I was reversing around a bend and some guy just walked straight behind me (on the road) and set off my reverse beepers (tell me if I'm too close). It was dark and he was wearing black (and had his hood up, probably his I-pod on) and had no idea that drivers have blind spots etc. Another time I reversed off the path and there was a guy standing next to my drivers side. I asked him if he didn't notice that he was standing in the road and that there was a large car moving towards him. "Jest moja droga!" he rplied.

The thing with drivers which gets me is when you are trying to come out of a parking space and, rather than wait 20 seconds for you to get out and drive away and leave the way clear, thy try to push their car through the 20mm gap, thus blocking your way and theirs (and the guy behind them who moves when they do, so they can't reverse either).

^^^ a fine example of the nit twits who only look as far ahead as the tail lights in front of them. I'm seriously starting to wonder if there's something genetic amongst Poles in which they lack the peripheral vision of their European counterparts.

Er, he was right. If you hit something/someone while reversing, it is your fault. And there are no blind spots when reversing. Or at least there aren't if you turn round in your seat and actually look that way as well as using your mirrors (instead of reversing Polish style by just using the mirrors).

The Poles in the US always fail that part of their driver's license exam. No matter how much you tell them to look around when passing their exam, they ignore you, then they wonder why they failed.

How about if you step off the pavement into the road while there is a car on it?

There are blind spots if th pedestrian is on the other side to the way your head is turned and happens, just for a second to be in line with the frame of the windows (and as I said, it was dark and he was in black).

unless that someone fails to attend to their personal safety to the point of being criminally negligent. I think the point is that pedestrians here often fail to observe their responsibility to their own safety. I know what you were getting at though but it's the internet and what better place for missing the obvious is there?

Exactly. I mean, would you chance your safety to the reactions of a Polish driver? (don't be offended, I know some very nice Polish drivers).

What amazes me is that some of these people serious do not seem to notice a rather large chunk of metal moving towards them ON THE ROAD. They don't even seem to notice that the road is there (with no crossing). It's like they are wearing blinkers (in some cases they are, wearing hoods etc).

What worries me more is when some of these people, who are apparently myopic and unaware of their own surroundings, are unable to acknowledge a large moving piece of metal... get into their own car and drive!

I still think this is a good thread. Many people talk of change but they can't put their finger on exactly how which makes them little better than the government IMHO.

leave...?

Amen...I despise this too. And yes I realize his post was old.

Millions did and whos left?

I walk to and from the place where I train every morning 1-2 x day. It's so close it would actually take me more time to drive and maybe it's just where I live but here's my question:

Has anyone else noticed a very large number of "goat trails" running across any patches of green in their city. What I mean is, so many people where I live, take so many "short cuts" across grassy areas that paths and unsightly ruts are formed. Were the walkways that badly designed or is it something else?

Thanks for the affirmation beelzebub, it's nice to know I'm not imagining things, or if I'm misinterpreting what I see, then at least I'm not the only one:)

Foreigner4

I think some are just poorly designed and also the persons inability to just use the sidewalk. The metro station near my flat has a "goat trail." It veers off from the sidewalk, onto the grass, and goes straight up to the bus stop. I doubt it saves time. The sidewalk eventually leads up to the bus stop. There was another goat trail across from this one (also from another bus stop), but the city fixed it up by putting in a sidewalk last year. I'll admit that I have taken a goat trail before. lol. but the time spent cleaning the dried up mud from my boots is not fun.

Just to be more considerate of other people. For example, a delivery van was parked outside yesterday and my wife couldn't get past it as it was blocking her access to the road. This happens a lot in Scotland too.

Also, stop making transactions like battles. Try and relax, take a deep breath and try to negotiate in a civil way, not like a barbarian with a war-axe and sword.

'..a delivery van was parked outside yesterday and my wife couldn't get past it as it was blocking her access to the road.'

Ha ha, my Polish g/f is amazed that cars park on the road here in the UK. She wonders why they don't park on the pavement to leave the roads clear so cars don't have to drive around these obstructions. A certain logic to both arguments; maybe just a cultural thing.

this goes back to the Polish inability to admit fault or take responsibility in such situations. I love running negotiation role plays in class, no matter how explicit the target language has been made or target of the exercise it often comes down to a situation exactly as you described:)

A lot of nonsense is written on this forum but one thing which seems to run through many descriptions is the lack of taking responsibility. I've noticed it time and again. Taking responsibility is a must in so many jobs so kicking it to the sidelines is not an option.

I'm not responsible for all the nonsense! It's edutainment really..

;)

Edutainment, nice term :) The easiest way to change things is to smile and start to rethink some rules. I find it hard to believe that I can't even get access to my own money 'na lokacie'. Just because my British passport lacks 2 letters, that's absurd!