History / Poland and Israel getting back on the right foot...maybe [132]

I wouldn't generalise in blaming Jews for this anti-Polish spew over the last week. Even though there are some Jews in Poland and elsewhere, happy to attack Poland, there are also many (particularly Jewish groups in Poland) defending it. It's more about Israel. Their politicians and media are constantly attacking Poland, they can't help themselves, almost like, they have an agenda or something. Hmmmm.

News / Poland and USA vs Iran and the EU [38]


Funny that, isn't it, since Poland is offering to pay the USA for the permanent base anyway. So the ultimatum is 'pay the Jews, then you can pay for the US to have a permanent base here'. Great deal.

I get why Poland want to keep good relations with America, but they have no beef with Iran and hosting this was a bad move.

News / PO to boycott TVP in Poland [37]


Well not sure about people within PiS but certainly some PiS voters, I have to admit. Have you seen his tweets? He is so caught up in how amazing he believes he has made the channel, constantly bragging about how high the ratings are, that it is beginning to get very annoying. And yes, even PiS supporters, or certainly people on the right who are general for PiS over PO or Nowoczesna, have noticed the over the top bias in TVP. I think it's less the attacking of the opposition and more the 'look how great PiS is' and 'look how great we are' stuff that is getting beyond the pale. Of course, the PO run TVP for 8 years was biased and full of lies, but the point is, the PiS one aint any better.

UK, Ireland / Tax return question (UK) [4]

Okay I didn't realise that I need to declare all earnings, including already taxed ones. Thanks for the info folks.

I don't need to do the self assessment for this year anyway, as the freelance work didn't start until after April this year.

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]

How many people are in those pics delph, compared to how many attended the march? There were literally thousands of normal families there.

plus they don't seem to be right wingers either. They people in the pic on the bottom seem to be calling for freedom for Belarusian Antifa.

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]


Mostly bald men from villages? Now you're just repeating mainstream media propaganda.


They did not refuse to agree to red/white flags only, they simply said they could not guarantee it would only be red and white flags, and that's what PiS wanted. They're not going to spend all day confiscating flags from people to appease the government. In a free country you should be able to bring whatever flag you want, not be censored. They want to encourage people to take part in the march, not push them away.

Travel / So I went to Warsaw - my thoughts after visiting Poland [88]


That has got nothing to do with basic politeness. That's a PC culture issue and a fear of offending someone based on identity, something I am also very much against. Police have the right to stop somebody and search them, not matter what their race, creed, religion and culture, but just don't treat them like dirt, particularly if you don't know if they are guilty or not. Now of course if they are uncooperative or abusive, you can be more assertive. Think about it, how is an ordinary citizen supposed to feel about the police if they keep getting harassed by them, when they have done nothing wrong? After a while they won't see them as being there to protect them, but as a nuisance who keep bothering ordinary decent hard working citizens.

When I was in Warsaw, there was Straz Miejska everywhere. I didn't feel safer, I felt as though they were waiting for somebody to put their foot in the wrong place, so they could hassle them.

Life / Political correctness in Poland [210]

You know not only conservative publications exist in Poland right? I am sure that left wing ones praised the heck out of it.

Life / Political correctness in Poland [210]


Erm, have you heard of 'Kler', the movie they just put out in Poland, viciously attacking the Catholic church and almost everything about it? Believe me, the Catholic church isn't off limits to criticise in Poland. Just turn on TVN or pick up a copy of Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper.

Travel / So I went to Warsaw - my thoughts after visiting Poland [88]

Tis true. British police are much more polite. Now some say the British police aren't firm enough and I agree, to a degree, in situations involving individuals who don't do what they ask and start to kick off, they need to deal with them firmly, but there is no need to treat a person like crap if you stop them and they are complying with everything you say. You could tell the cop searching the kid in the video likes to abuse his authority, just by the way he was talking.

Travel / So I went to Warsaw - my thoughts after visiting Poland [88]

Yeah thanks for posting that video Dougpol. That is basically typical Polish police and how they treat people. It isn't the fact that they stopped him that pisses me off. I can understand they have a job to do and if indeed there were a lot of bicycles stolen in that area and they were doing some general checks on people riding them, fine. It's the way they spoke to the kid, treating him like trash, like he is guilty before they even know anything, constantly asking him why he is nervous. How about, because a second ago he was riding his bike and now suddenly police are going through all his stuff.

Law / Need help about Poland's partner visa for LGBT [45]


This is absolutely true. Not so long ago I was listening to 2 comics discussing this on a podcast. They were talking about Ellen Degeneres. Her career apparently wasn't going so well some years ago, so her agent decided it would be a good time for her to come out as gay. The coming out was treated as one of the bravest decisions ever made and they acted like when she came out, she was treated worse by the industry and discriminated. This was of course nonsense. She was suddenly being hired for a ton of shows and got her own prime time show, that she still has. Coming out was the best thing she ever did. If she hadn't, she'd be a nobody, as she wouldn't have got anywhere on talent, since she has none. Being gay actually made her a somebody, at least in showbiz.

Same goes for ethnic minorities. The amount of boring black people there are with their own TV show, for no other reason than that they are black, is a joke. I have nothing against black people by the way, I just don't like seeing them [or anyone] given things simply for who they are.

Off-Topic / Ukraine - a country in Central Europe? [28]

Nah, Ukraine clearly in Eastern Europe. Even Poland is considered by many to be Eastern Europe, even though some say it is in central Europe. At best you could say the most western part of Ukraine covers central Europe possibly, but even that might be doing a bit far.

Travel / So I went to Warsaw - my thoughts after visiting Poland [88]


Motorists in Italy are certainly right up there. It's another one of those 'no rules of the road' countries.

Travel / So I went to Warsaw - my thoughts after visiting Poland [88]


This is interesting. I used to think like this. Why are customers thanking cashiers when they give them change? It's their money, they paid for the goods and the money they are getting back is their money, so the cashier isn't doing them any favours by giving them their money back. I got over that now though. It's just politeness, so why not say thank you? The cashier can say thank you too, when receiving the money for the goods, even though in many cases [unless she owns the store] this money doesn't go to her, but to the store she works at. It just makes the entire transaction more pleasant though.

Having said that I do occasionally get frustrated with myself for giving somebody an undeserved 'thank you', like when I'm in my car and I think a car is letting me through, so I thank them, then I realise they are actually just parked up on the side of the road. It doesn't matter though. So they got an underserved thanks, big deal. I have sometimes given people a very underserved 'sorry' though. It's usually in a crowded place, when somebody barges past me. Then I think, ah man, they frigging barged in to me, why did I just apologise? I was standing there, it isn't my fault.

By the way, speaking of the 1st incident with the car, I was recently reading a humorous but semi serious article about road etiquette, and it said that the driver who let's another through, should return the 'thank you' wave after being thanked. So say you move to the side of the road and stop, in order to let a car from the other side past because the road is too narrow for both of you to get through at the same time, when they raise their hand to thank you as they go through, you should raise it back to acknowledge their thanks. The explanation was that it isn't really a return thank you, but more of an acknowledgement of their thanks. Apparently if you don't do it, the other driver might think you begrudgingly let them through and weren't happy doing it. It seems a bit over the top and I never used to give the acknowledging return wave, but I've done it a few times now. I can't imagine a Polish person would be keen on all this though, most drivers are maniacs. Anyone heard of this 'road etiquette?'

Oh, the reminds me of something else that annoyed me in Poland. Why the heck can cars run a red light, while if a person walks to the other side of the road when they have a red, they could be fined? It seems cars have more rights than pedestrians in Poland.

Travel / So I went to Warsaw - my thoughts after visiting Poland [88]

You actually believe things cost more in England because of the good customer service? You think they add £5 to the price of a pair of shoes for the smile you get from the store clerk? You're more delusional that I realised.

Travel / So I went to Warsaw - my thoughts after visiting Poland [88]


I might just do that. Thanks for the info.


Sounds to me like you just got used to **** service and now it's normal for you. By the way I am not saying shop assistance, store clerks etc. should be polite to foreigners, as that's what they expect. I think they should be polite to Polish people first and foremost, but they're not. I actually get the impression they are more rude to their own.

Life / Anti Catholic Church movie 'Kler' from Poland [8]

I admit I'm shocked nobody has anything to say on this. I expected the anticlerical crowd on here to have a field day.

Travel / So I went to Warsaw - my thoughts after visiting Poland [88]


Perhaps he did, until I told him that I didn't live in Poland, hence giving him the information. He said he didn't care where I was from or if I was from another planet. Like I said, just rude.

Travel / So I went to Warsaw - my thoughts after visiting Poland [88]


Why do you immediately assume I am American? It looks like you have some serious insecurities, assuming that anyone who complains about poor service in Poland must be some high and mighty yank who expects too much.

You say most opinions in Poland are that customer service is fine, well perhaps Polish people are used to crap customer service? If they went abroad, they would be pleasantly surprised.


That's what I'm sure I and many customers in Poland could well do. Doesn't help the business much does it? To think all they had to do was be friendly. Nobody is asking for 'have a nice day' or to be treated like a king, but friendly service and a smile, is that too much to ask? Is that something a paying customer should not get, according to you? Must the customer always feel like he is causing the store clerk, or whoever, hassle, just by asking for something? Get a grip man.


Is that what this is about? An expat should not get any good treatment? I'm not an expat. I'm Polish, I live abroad, my family is from Poland and I went there for a few days, although it was my 1st time in Warsaw. I was surprised at how poor the service is. I spoke Polish and I sound just like somebody who lives there, so they probably assumed I did. It really doesn't take a lot to be friendly, just like it doesn't take a lot to hold a door open for somebody or generally have good manners. They don't cost anything, as people say. Seriously, don't be so insecure and assume I am some foreigner telling people in Poland how to live. It's friendly advice and they would do well to take it on board. It might help their businesses do a lot better.

Travel / So I went to Warsaw - my thoughts after visiting Poland [88]


What if they're not from the US? You know that isn't the only place in the world where you get good customer service right?


Of course. I always speak Polish to Polish folk.


Actually it wasn't busy. It was a road by the Russian embassy and near the presidential palace. No cars were anywhere near, that's why I went to the other side. Didn't stop the policeman hidden in the box by the embassy [that I was unaware of\ being an ass to me though.


Well I spoke to this one politely in Polish and it didn't stop him being rude. I was actually told later that if I had pretended not to know Polish, he might have treated me better, as apparently the cops in Poland seem to treat their own much worse.

Travel / So I went to Warsaw - my thoughts after visiting Poland [88]

You say that, but some of those who served me didn't look older than 30, and still had an attitude. It seems they have picked up the commie ways from their parents, as have the police.

News / Poland's PIS party and the UK Tories [25]


Soundbites don't mean sh-t. The Tories are not xenophobic, they are just playing to the further right side of their voters, to keep them happy. They haven't done anything to stop immigration and they won't. I doubt even Brexit will stop the inflow of immigration. As for self-congratulatory smugness, you seem to be describing politicians in general there, it isn't just PiS.

News / Poland's PIS party and the UK Tories [25]


What on earth are you blithering on about? PiS are closer to Labour in their policies than the Conservatives, if anything. The Conservative Party is conservative only in name. They have nothing to do with conservatism. There are no conservative options in the UK. Neither the Conservatives or Labour are socially conservative like PiS. The only similarity I can think of in either of those parties are the socialist reforms being put in place by PiS, that as I said, are more similar to what Labour would do than the Tories. Forget what dancing Theresa said up on the podium, it's meaningless.

Life / Things that annoy you in Poland. [114]

This isn't to degrade Poland, it's just something very annoying. I get the feeling I have mentioned it before, but even so, I'll say it again.

The customer service, particularly in shops, is non existent. They don't say good morning/afternoon. They don't smile. But the one that really annoys me, if you don't have the exact right amount of money, they ask you if you can provide it [and often not politely], like it's your problem they haven't prepared with change in the till, or they just can't be bothered to fish it out.

I've never been in any other country where you buy something, give money and then have an issue because they don't have change. In Poland they do this in big stores, where you'd think they should have a till full of change prepared, and privately owned little ones, where rather than being happy a customer is buying something from them and helping their business make money, they make you feel like it's your fault for not preparing and having the exact right amount. It's terrible.

Life / Things that annoy you in Poland. [114]

Merged:

Things that annoy you in Poland/in Polish people

I have a feeling we had a thread like this somewhere, but finding it is too much of a task for me. Is there a mod who could point me to that thread, as I have just thought of something that annoys me a lot in Poland. Or does such a thread not actually exist? If so, I will write it in here.