Why are Polish people so strange & unusual?

Perhaps it is my fault for thinking this way. But I am not sure.

I hate to seem like a naysayer; but I've never met a Polish person I feel like I could actually trust. They always seem to be a warm or nice bunch of people; but to me this all seems feigned.

One thing about Polish people that I really have trouble with is that they always seem to act like a clan. If you don't agree with a Polish person, then they will tell the other person; etc. and you will be booted or ostracized from their social group.

Is it just me, or is this true? Or have I been talking to the wrong people?

Polish people also tend to have this weird love/hate thing about them. i.e. Me: Do you know Nikodem? Bartosz: Nikodem is an idiot.

(even though I know that both "Bartosz" and "Nikodem" have interacted/are friends; the other Polish person in this case; (aka Bartosz, here) will always try to cut-throat or speak behind his back.)

One Polish acquaintance of mine once told me: "Polish people are secretly envious of each other; and are only kind to each other but do not let each other know their true feelings. Poles are very jealous people; and they would actually rather want to see the other Polish person fall into the mud; rather than be more successful, than themselves. Although they usually do not try to clarify this to anyone. They also tend to be more naive or slower than other people."

I am a white man, American from the South, but I have talked to various people around the world. I observed that the Polish and the French seem to carry this kind of behavior. I find it to be very odd?

Maybe it seems kind of rude of me to ask; but I have actually never met such people with such a seemingly deactivating; negative or arrogant atmosphere as the Polish... And also a love/hate relationship.

Definitelly


Sounds like Nazi German propaganda during second world war.

youtu.be/j0Mz_IqpZX8

There's some truth to it, but I don't think it's just polish thing, others just hide it better.

Important question to ask is, have you been to Poland and meet actual polish people, or are you talking about Poles in USA?

As to why? I guess communism is very good at setting people against one another, dehumanizing and creating system where you cannot trust anyone.

Not in the UK. Quite the reverse. They would let their countryman starve. We British act one hundred percent like a clan when away from Blighty, and Americans probably do too?

"I just need a small loan to get me home..."
"I don't think I can help you old chap....."
"Oh, that's a shame. I don't know how I will pay for my fare back to Luton without my wallet. My whippet will be missing me and we're playing in the 5th round of the FA cup on Saturday and I can't miss that!"

"You're British?!! My dear fellow - why didn't you say so?!! American Express?"


Talk about generalising:)) My neighbours are 99.9999 recurring Polish, the wife is Polish. Not bad types:) Only the dog isn't Polish, and he's a difficult fellow.

you are deluded. Brits away from blighty act like a nasty little group of gossips. With their social circle severely reduced, they spend their days spreading shite about whichever new Brit has had the misfortune to move near to them.

Here we are all quite pally, and visit each other's gaffes, to yes, enthuse about our own "Come Dine With Me" successes and failures , and look after Fido etc etc. Sorry to be so positive about it all, but that's my experience after 27 years away from the old crumbling Dougpol estates.

really well that's good for you but trust me the Brits I met in inland Spain were enough to make me apply for an Irish passport.

I love that song.

If they're Polish from Poland, you can't blame them for wanting to be among people with the same origin, mother tongue, customs etc.

If they're Polish Americans, I don't know.

maybe just the experience of being Amerkin has slowed them down...:):)

Polish people are...like....so weird.

OK my Polish out laws ARE weird I confess.

I have tons of American/Pole relatives and friends.
In my personal opinion I would have to say that Knownaim (OP) is spot on.

Also known as stag parties... :)

The American version

first person: I just need to borrow some money to get back home.
secone person: Bite me.
first person: Oh, how I miss those bluegrass of my native Kentucky!
second person: You're American! Well all the best of luck to you, buddy! Hope you make it.... no don't write... or call... I think I have to stand over there right now.....

and the rules are strict as well, when one member that is too drunk falls to the canal he is no longer a clan member and is left to drown ;-)

The things you describe above are common traits of Polonia in US/UK but not so much Poles living in Poland or even Germany, France, etc. The Polonia is a different breed of Pole than those born in and living in Poland. Once Poles move to the West, they tend to become very materialistic, greedy, envious, etc and making money becomes their primary goal. This is due to communism having limited opportunities, Poles always being hustlers, and ostracism and loss of dignity if someone were to move to a wealthy western country and still be unsuccessful. Oftentimes, the women will gossip about who has a better family - why such as such husband hasn't bought a new ca, why such and such's son didn't get into a good college, why didn't such and such family show up at the weekly rosary, etc. It's mostly BS like that. But your friend is correct - a woman may come for someone's house to coffee just to pull someone's tongue and find out what's going on and then go and gossip about everything she learned all while playing the role of a good friend. This tends to be more common especially amongst young families that are FOBs and have 1st gen kids. Generally, the kids and westernized generations tend not to engage in gossip and petty rivalries. But yes, when Poles first come to a country they act very clannish for the simple fact that they rely on the community to get around with things like housing, visas/green cards, employment, etc. There are some people who came to US 10-20-30 years ago and still don't speak English that well. Amongst men it's clannish related mostly to employment as Polish men tend tow ork in the same fields and often make companies with each other, do jobs together, etc. A lot of the men if they don't speak English or have a high level of education they'll tend to go into construction trades. Poles are also weary of outsiders and tend to marry and be friends/hang out with their own kind.

In Poland though, the Poles are a bit different. For one, I think they're more culturally sophisticated and tend not to have the pettiness of the diaspora. However, one thing that has changes is in the past even up until the early 2000's it was common to have like 3 generations sharing the same home or condo. Now it's not like that. Kids tend to move out and do their own thing, some seniors have thus been left to fend for themselves especially those living in rural areas. There's also a lot of envy though but not like the backstabbing gossiping and such in the US/UK. I noticed even amongst my friends in Poland and some cousins like if I had a pair of some Italian brand sunglasses or some jordans they'd just have to have the same ones even if they couldn't really afford it. There's a ton of gold diggers too. There wasn't nearly this amount of young ****** like 10-20 years ago - some will try to drug you to steal your jewelry and wallet, another try to marry you so she can get citizenship and live in the west, a third will be an escort, a fourth will be a student looking for a sugar daddy, a fifth will be using you to make her bf jealous while getting drunk for free, all **** like that.

Dirk, you need to change company if that's the sort of women you meet.

Knownaim,

My experience, both all too briefly in Poland, as well as with Polish people here in the States over many, many years, is that Polish hospitality is unrivaled among Europeans whom I've enountered during my travels!

As far as some of what I've read which you experienced, I must beg to differ sharply. Poles as a group are certainly not slower or faster than any other peoples; they can though be quite intense as concerns both their own history along with their place in the world. They are indeed sensitive to stereotyped misconceptions about themselves and if they perceive they are being made fun of or condescended to in any way, their feelers go up like a bird dog, and they will usually respond by looking you straight in the eye, above all, honestly, truthfully, and sometimes even, not so diplomatically.

At present, they have a lot on their plate, in addition to being unfairly made to feel as though the Nazi Holocaust was somehow their "fault".

At present they do have a lot on their plate, denying free speech and generally allowing themselves to be brainwashed by an idiotic concept of nationalist "go -it-alone" government.

Normal, Poles are normal. That is best answer on the question - Why are Polish people so strange & unusual?

There I couldn't agree with you more, Dougpol1! Then again, the Poles have only themselves to blame, as I've said once before, re-electing the same party which nearly destroyed their country during part of the '90's!

But let's don't be too hard on 'em. It hurts like Hell, I'm sure, to be constantly maligned by others.

Oh my, then I wonder what do you think about Israel ? They are the same just X 100 more.

No argument there. Netanyahu is a politician of the worst kind and has surely lost any standing outside his own country, so his criticism of just about anything counts for nothing in diplomatic quarters.

Israel is naturally reluctant to admit the fact that Germany alone planned and executed the Holocaust, since much of Israel's technology depnends on Germany, and not Poland:-)

Kinda smells, don't it!

By the West I assume you mean America? Because Poles are EU citizens and can live legally in any one of the other 27 member states.

whre is 'the west' then Dirk?
sounds like you really need to choose who you hang with a bit better.

Usa amd west in general as citizenship affords more rights ans gives a degree of certainty esp in a divorce. Although now poles arent too keen on migrating to france or even uk anymore as it doesnt offer the economic opportunities it once did, aside from an easily manipulated benefits system clever poles use to help fund their retirement. In fact, theres tons of poles who have moved back from uk to pl. International companies are booked solid for a year according to numerous articles due to all the poles leaving uk.

And no its not about thr company i keep. Im merely saying that as a male you have to be careful in the clubs esp if dont speak polish so you someone doesnt get you. In the us holland germany etc you dont have strip or go go clubs where girls try to spike drinks and charge non polish speakers 50 euro a drink then run theit cc for hundreds it not thousands more, in pl ukraine russia etc you do.

Well, I don't go to strip clubs so I don't come across such women.
Seriously, what kind of people do you expect to meet in such places? If you say that girls there charge so much for a drink, let me assure you the whole staff and the owner, either male or female, know about it.

As for living in the West, we're free to live in Western Europe without marrying a citizen. As for living in the US, a woman would have to be really naive or desperate to believe the American dream and marry a random guy just for the sake of moving there.

Well in clubs in germany holland uk etc or even czechy women in general tend to be a bit less materialistic, envious, gold digging as a lot of slavic women ie polisb and russian girlss but even more so ukranian chicms