USA, Canada /
Why do Americans (and Canadians) hate Polish people? [226]
I have yet to meet a truly stupid Irish or Polish person.
How true. All the Polish engineers at my last place of employment were the very best and at the top withing the engineering department. They would argue, just like me, but they were smart and supremely proactive. One of them would walk into my office to tell me that I am a very manager. My response was that I liked his balls to tell me that to my face. He left confused and laughing.
When I came to the US in 1967, I instantly ran into the Polack jokes. One of them was on a bulletin board of Stewart Warner where I started, showing a revolver with the barrel pointing back and
Polish Gun right under it. That bs lasted about a day or two. Then I threw a fit, told them that some of the best guns are made in Radom, and that it was the American-made M-16's there were often found jammed next to dead Americans in Vietnam. Nobody ever offered a Polish joke in my presence.
What is with speaking proper English?
My wife is Polish. She came to the States when she was 17 so she speaks very good Polish. We married in 1970 and when our first daughter turned 1 and showed signs of being annoyed by other kids in an all Anglo 'hood because of the few Polish words she picked up from us, one day we switched to the English only, with no exceptions, between ourselves and everywhere else. This decision paid off very well. The the extra money I earned as a manager and later as a director, the position I held until my retirement was a tangible proof. Had I clinged on my Polish heritage, whatever it means while living in "America", I would have never been promoted, and, thus, denied the extra 50 grand a year for about 20 years. That 50 is my immediate salary raise plus the managerial bonus. Do the math and see what being fluent in English does to your cash flow.
Even in Poland it pays to know English. A friend came to the States a while back. Her son hated it here so he went back. Luckily, with his English he became a tour guide for foreign tourists. Last time I heard, he was doing very well.
Without trying to be funny or offensive, there is only one reason why a Polish person deserves to be called dumb or stupid: it's for clinging to everything Polish - the newspapers, books, movies, TV, radio, bars, restaurants, and the company he keeps, while neglecting English and the immersion in the culture of the country he chose to be his new home. If this is your choice you lose the right to complain about the non-assimilating Muslims and how you are being exploited at your low-paying job.
