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Posts by Petrolol  

Joined: 4 Feb 2016 / Male ♂
Last Post: 4 Feb 2016
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From: Warszawa
Speaks Polish?: Tak.

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Petrolol   
4 Feb 2016
Life / Queues in Poland - everyone in line is sandwiched [44]

Merged: Standing in line & personal space in Poland

I'm Polish but was raised abroad and have at times spent time living in Poland (for 1 year or two) and am back again for about 2 years. It's nothing new to me, but this time around the bizarre invading of personal and even intimate space is driving me bonkers. People get *way* too close when I do transactions, I can't even keep my pin private. They move so close sometimes I feel like bending over butt-naked in prison would be more pleasant. Recently in a post office, a place where these violations are the norm, I moved a few steps to the left to weigh a package, and a guy actually moved right in front of the window where I was doing my business. I asked him to move, and he moved just enough centimeters so I could fit in - even though this is the post office where I can be exchanging plenty of personal information (cheques, IDs, addresses, etc.) and no one has any business being that close. We got into a verbal fight, with him not budging and me feeling like I wanted to jump his throat.

I've stayed extensively in many countries, from the US to China, but Poland seems to really take the crown when it comes to invading personal space. Any thoughts on why this is so pervasive and severe?