3 reasons why you hate Poland.

I agree with frd. Cracovia, there comes a time when you have to put your hands up and say 'bad is bad'. English fans really changed over the years because they wanted to. Football became more of a family game. Can you say the same about Poland? There are fights in forests and weapons carried.

Normal fans, to my knowledge, are escorted by the police at away matches. I'd be grateful if the police did this, knowing some of the yobbos that go to games. What do you object to, Cracovia?

Cracovia has a point. Although this is wrong to reduce your attitude towards police only to their policy towards football fans. This policy is just wrong, media, football federation and football clubs are also partly to blame. A citizen cannot be treated automatically as a dangerous suspect. Many of them aren't too bright and treated like that they start to identify with this role. The point is to punish criminals properly and not to treat any social group as a potential criminals.

Well I think frd and I got that point too, lesser. The central point was that the police have to take strong, deterrent action against would-be criminals. I'm quite sure I speak for frd too in that we both wouldn't want to brand a certain group as this way or that but you need to take a firm line with hardmen.

Soon to be ex boyfriend Polis SOB.

If he's such an SOB, why are you still with him? Say See YAAAh, Adios!

1) The Nationally "woe is us" mentality
2) Refusal to take responisbility for ANYTHING
3) The jealous nature of Poles

very true, the mentality of thats is my entitlement is a national disease, poles look at what you have and then access if it is your speaking to you!

Ripping off the system is a national pastime.

Just to add something which has happened twice in the past two weeks: When someone has dropped something (such a newly bought CD or a hat) and I pick it up and give it to them, I expect more of a response than just "Oh"! A "dziękuję" wouldn't go amiss!

1- anything to do with the post office. 15 minute wait just to pick up a letter. 8-10ppl waiting and only 1 person handling the mass while 5 different workers are coming and going from the front end. :/

2- parking. it seems that there is total parking anarchy in my city.
-Ppl park wherever they can find a place be it diagonally across the zebra with 3 wheels on the sidewalk and 1 on the roadway
-always in front of gates to bloks,
-have the a$$ end of their car stick out 1 meter past the rear ends of the other diagonally parked cars so oncoming traffic needs to stop to avoid head on collisions.

-about 20 min ago i came back to my neighbourhood. Its in a cul de sac with townhouses in it. There is some Benz with German plates on it parked on the roadway- almost on the white X box, but not in any of the 20+ free places to park. :/ idzjut

3- Poles that stare. I can be in a place and with not saying anything to anyone so my language is not a factor, there are ppl that stare all the time. I usually snap with "what the phuk are you looking at"

I'm sneaking in #4- dog crap on sidewalks. Can owners take some responsibility for their dogs?

Stare back. Really hard. They will look away (unless they're trying to pick you up). Or wink.

My seven year old daughter and myself have developed this into a game, where we walk around a supermarket and find an unsuspecting victim and stand next to them, then we start to speak English and see which one they stare at first... the winner who is stared at gets five points.

We carry this on round the shops laughing away at these people who stare at us, and strangely they are the ones who feel quite insecure when you start laughing at them :-)

Can you both be hired to come and give a demonstration performance in a supermarket in Poznań?

It's just like the UK - and most of the problems are caused by the fact that the old idiots just HAVE to go to the post office at peak times. I'd be hugely in favour of introducing a rule that bans retired people from post offices at peak hours!

Add chemists to that list. How is it that I can ask for and receive four different products, have two prescriptions filled and pay in no more than 120 seconds of counter time but the average old person takes at least two minutes to ask for and decide about a single item?!

I'd like to go further and introduce compulsary Euthanasia for the over 70's and unemployed.
This would have the duel effect or eliminating unemployment (literally) overnight and vis a vis the geriatrics, think of the savings the country would make on hospitals etc.

Finally if you are proven to have caused more than three car accidents you'd be put down.
Oh and if you are a habitual looky loo staring type, you'd have your eyes poked out.

NosoHappycamper
"Oh and if you are a habitual looky loo staring type, you'd have your eyes poked out."

There goes 90% of the population of Switzerland.

That one gets me too.

One thing I hate here is the overuse of registered post. Some quite trivial letters are sent by it, and you have to wait (in my case) in a tiny post office, with a queue of people (mostly retired) arguing with the assistant and there's always, but always, someone who trades with Allegro sending fifty packages by registered post, each one with a form to fill in and not one but two rubber stamps.

I feel your pain, but still, it's hardly an "overuse" in this case - if I buy stuff online, I jolly well want it sent registered, and the seller probably does too, in case of problems. That said, I have the same problem at my local post office in London - 4 or 5 people blocking the entire area, with huge sacks of packages to be sent via Special Delivery... ;-(

On the other hand, I do buy a lot of things on eBay, so mustn't grumble!

Magdalena

I agree with you. My friend who sells on Allegro posts the stuff in the main post office after midnight. No queues and nobody getting irritated behind them. At my local post office on Płocka, there's only one window, not enough space for a big queue, and lots of old people trying to pick up (often too late) a registered letter.

I had to pick up some theatre tickets sent by registered post, last week. The queue was too big for the room, half the people in it were trying to queue-jump and argue with the stressed assistant, and there was an Allegro trader posting over a hundred small packages, each needing a form filling in. It would be better if he'd gone to a bigger post office during a quieter period.

I've seen the same problem in the UK too, with commercial customers, and in the UK, the worst thing is when people from shops bring kilos of coins to the bank to be weighed.

Maybe this was already mentioned somewhere here but anyway:

1 - almost everyone chainsmokes
2 - almost everyone eats animals, especially pigs
3 - the place is under snow for 5 months of the year

Reading these has a funny new meaning after finally visiting...lol

Perfect

Are you a Pole-ar bear, then?

No, I just prefer snow to the heat. I cant wait to get to Lodz for some snow tomorrow.

Tons of snow now. You'll be glad to hear I fell on my arse every day since last week!

OMG, I'm speachless.
I've read just the 3 first sides of this thread and this last one and I start to hate Poland myself. :-D
I live here, I was born here, I spent some time in Ireland (liked it, never felt wrong there), I travel around, I have to keep in touch on a business level with many nationalities all over the world and I don't really feel a nationalist, I have to mingle, but I can tell you...

- I also hate all this crap on sidewalks,
- I don't like the listners of radio Maryja,
- I hate visiting the post, the queues, waiting for this damn invoice to get out of the bloody old dot-matrix printer,
- I don't like the fact, that when I go abroad people stare at me whenever I say I'm Polish or speak Polish - it's so damn frustrating! "What are they thinking, do they hate me?" always comes across my mind.

- I hate the little money I get for my hard work here,
- I hate the politics and politicians who are such a disgrace to this country,
- but most of all I hate reading this. Sometimes it's so difficult to fit in, when you feel you don't belong, but you can't leave. I wish you all to find your way in this strange country and let's hope that it will get better and better with every new generation.

I saw someone say that they hated flaki and I nearly peed myself laughing. I don't like that either, but it's not something available ONLY in Poland!!

I can't comment either was I've only ever been to Poland once, but I really disliked having the same meal everyday no matter who I met with: chicken cutlet, mashed potatoes, and cucumber salad. It should become the national meal!

CuriousStudent

Then get something else. Pierogi perhaps? :P or barszcz czerwony czysty.

Okay after being here about a week, I have some gripes.

1. Organization of some hotels. I've been on a quest to get some laundry cleaned and I'm quite outside of Krakow itself (at least to be walking with a suitcase full of dirty clothes in sub-zero temperature) so I nicely asked the reception if they had a service to clean them.

Day 1: "Yes we have a service available, but the main who does it is already doing someone elses. Can you come back in 2 hours?"

2 hours later..."We are finished for the night. Can you please come back tomorrow morning?"

Day 2: "Uh...we don't have any service like that. You have to go into town or something" (said both new people at the reception)

Day 3: "Yes we have that service, but the machines are broken right now. Sorry"

Huh?.....

2. Car alarms

Perhaps this isn't just Poland (I'm sure it's not), but this is ridiculous. The car alarm goes off and instead of going off for 5 minutes, it goes on forever. The thing goes off 30 seconds, rests, and then goes off again for 30 seconds - FOR HOURS! I'm not used to this...in the U.S the things stop after 2-5 minutes or less. When I'm trying to sleep this is frustrating...

3. People who own the cars with these alarms!

Okay so I've only been a week, but I love this place despite the cold. It's not expensive, the people are friendly and I haven't had too many problems (the third "problem" isn't even legitimate ;) )

Well 'przelotem', at least Poland is a MUCH better place now than it was 20 years ago, and now - almost - in the 21st Century (unless you belong to the church which is still in the 15th Century).

and you hate all poland for it???
cant wait till you there longer??