Travel / Photos from Poland [258]

Actually, to tell you the truth, I think it is an awfull place and visit it as little as possible. Obviously, I do not have that 'personal touch' with the place though as your family comes from there then that is a different story.

Travel / Photos from Poland [258]


Yes, I know it well. My wife comes from Czestochowa and this is not very far away at all. Nothing much there to see, mind you, though the countryside is nice. Best of all is to go down towards the Czech border.


For me, the best place in Poland, probably as it is the only place I know in that country which does not look like Poland!

Life / Why are Poles always so miserable? Why do they never smile? [512]

Thank you, Miranda, you have made my day.

Life / Why are Poles always so miserable? Why do they never smile? [512]

Yes, I agree, they say that a sense of humour and a laugh once in a while is a good antidote to the stresses in life.

Miranda, nothing in Poland is for free!!!

Life / Why are Poles always so miserable? Why do they never smile? [512]

Quoting Puzzler, who lies and says he/she is Polish? Is this a comment addressed to me? I do not know if I am to answer this or is it addressed to someone else?

Life / Why are Poles always so miserable? Why do they never smile? [512]

I am always miserable and never smile so I do not know the difference.

Life / Why are Poles always so miserable? Why do they never smile? [512]

How do you know that a wealthy man has earned his money through honesty and hard work? Does a rich man necessarily deserve to be rich? Does the man Abramowich (if I have spelled his name correctly) who owns Chelea Football Club- how has he earned 11 billion pounds? Working the land or down a coal mine? Are rich people always honest and how much money does a rich man deserve. These are two different aspects Like paul McCartny of the Beetles, does he need or deserve 800,000,000 pounds? Did he earn that money or did he receive that money through royalties? Someone can be honest and rich or poor and be dishonest-there is no guarantee either way. Is it too difficult to understand this point? Has this got anything to do with sad Polish faces, which was the theme of the discussion anyway? These is no thesis on my part. The end of this discussion, please.

Life / Why are Poles always so miserable? Why do they never smile? [512]

Rich people can be dishonest too not only poor people as those in Poland. Wealth does not guarantee honesty either. However, as an example, I know of a man polish man living in Denmark returning home by train through Poland with presents. He went to the tioilet and returned to his seat. His drink had been 'spiked' whilst out of the compartment and he later woke up in his underpants! Everything had been stolen so a warning to the travelling public in Poland-never leave an opened drink and then return to it later-you never know what you will find! Of course, I can not say if the guilty were Polish or just using a Polish train. Ask the poor man in question if I am 'spewing garbage' when he woke up and was at first arrested as they (the police) believed that he was drunk. A very nasty situation.

Life / Why are Poles always so miserable? Why do they never smile? [512]

The Polish are not used to taking responsibility and I think that they are unhappy because they know that their jobs are unimportant so they have no motivation. They always blame someone else. It is always the fault of the Russians or the Americans or failing that Churchill. To twija wina-Churchil sprzadal Polske do Stalina! I have heard this saying more often than their national Anthem. A very sad country with so many dishonest people.

Language / It is not possible to translate names into English or Polish! [52]

You can get very thorough lists of names in the back of good dictionaries to convert from one language o another. It is unusual to translate names from one language to another though. Who would call Alexander Solzenitsin Alex, for example. Juri Gagarin is always Juri NEVER George. Iljich Lenin is always Iljich. How can you change such proper names to another language? John Major would never be Jan Major in Poland!! At least Albert Eistein can get away with his name, though.

Law / Hiring a Polish Worker - Pros and Cons [107]

I think at the end of the day it supports capitalism to bring down the wall and flood England with yet more cheap labour. It keeps the British working class in bay by threatening them with 'if you do not want the job I can get 10 poles to do the same job for half the money'. America would not have ended Communism in Europe unles it benefited us in some way. The Poles can work hard but only in doing simple jobs. They tend to overestimate their abilities. We have some bad experiences of their work in house electrics-nearly burnt down the house! They will say 'yes I know how' in order to get the contract but in practice they can not. They would be good in a warehouse where they just sort things but I would not allow one under the bonet of my car!