Walking on other people's property in Poland - cultural difference?

I would like to know if it is normal in Poland to walk over other people's property, such as front yards and gardents. (In the UK this is not considered polite and is not normal behaviour). I have some Polish neighbours, who I don't know well. They seem like nice people, but they constantly walk over my front garden. I've asked them not to because there is a membrane under the gravel and walking over it breaks the membrane and causes weeds to come through. I'm not sure if they understood though. So I'd like to know if this is just normal for them. Thanks very much!

white_lilly
No it isn't. Most gardens in Poland are fenced in, and it isn't acceptable in PL to walk across lawns.

Your queen in UK can walk anywhere there, but, you can not walk in the palace even though your taxes are spent in the palace. You have cultural differences with royals there? Politeness was a concept of the palace people, wasn't it.

Funnily enough, I've never noticed HM The Queen walking across my (or anyone else's) front garden uninvited. Perhaps I was out when she came.


Do you have free access to the residence of your country's head of state? Wow, where do you live? Utopia?

lol,I once dared to step on the grass in a Polish park.....no,wandering in lawns is probably not second nature to your avarage Pole....

Jonni, if she queen wants to walk in your garden, you will gladly welcome her. (If you don't do that, she will walk anyway even if you don't want. You know all these.)

I didn't say there is free access here to the residence of state head, but, I didn't mention about politeness, etc. Not having free access to a place where it is run by our taxes is weakness of ordinary folks. But, Britain is in worse condition, still a monarchy with people living in palace without doing any work really. Do they have any right to teach you about politeness? And, do you have right to teach politeness to Poles here while you Brits are more primitive than Poles? Before moving your lips, think more.

No I wouldn't, and no she wouldn't. One reason the monarchies have survived so long in half of Europe is because such things don't happen. Except perhaps in your imagination.


Have they ever tried?


Who's doing that?


A strange and untrue comment. Racist too.


You should try it sometime.

Actually, she can't. Even in previous centuries members of the royal family had to pay tolls on some private bridges, roads etc.


What are you smoking? The question is about walking on someone's property after you have been asked not to AND causing damage.

If I walked into my Polish neighbour's garden or field without permission I'm sure I'd be asked why I was there and have it made clear I wasn't welcome to do this, just as someone would complain about someone parking across their drive or in their space in front of the house.


Hmm, maybe true... but can you tell me what happened to Poland in the 200 years after Poland lost it's monarchy?

I'll answer this (you can read my previous posts in this thread about politeness, etc.)

Every Pole individual has gained self-independency, character unlike people in Monarchic states although not enough yet due to the pressure of kingdoms, queendoms who also pressure onto their own folks. When (if) there becomes a global open world tomorrow, Poles are more ready for new world than folks of monarchic places who are still someones like being fed by their mothers and fathers. Monarchies maybe have been ok till last century, but, with the weapons now that can destroy even the whole world, weapon technology that has kept such monarchic states as powers will not work anymore.

Please keep to the original topic. Thank you

And all this gives them some form of superiority to walk across a guys lawn when they have been asked not to?

In Britain I can walk across a zebra and not fear I'm going to get hit by an audi driver overtaking a stopped vehicle. In Britain i can cross against a red light and not stand like a stuffed dummy in the rain waiting for a pedestrian light to change. If that's the downside of monarchy, then bring it on.

I experienced a stern telling of by some guys in uniforms for crossing a road in Poland.

Lost liberty to 3 countries, invaded and subjected? This is like "Been there, done that.. " diagnostic scare logic that has kept the powers alive upto today which have been failing down nowadays since 2008 economy crisis still in active. Been there, done that? Can do more? Time for you to think a little prognostic more.

You can walk the road on a red light if it rains? Dangerous. What if a car slides? Enjoy the rain.

OP asked a question about politeness without realizing impolitenesses in his home country Britain. OP is royal or what.

Presumably, if you'd told them you were a subjected minion of monarchism they'd have let you go.

A student of mine cross an empty road on a red light around midnight. The cops caught him and made him go around the crossroad crossings, waiting on all lights, about 6 times (took him 15 minutes). Nice to know that at the other side of the city nobody needed a policeman as they were too busy watching teenagers cross on green men.


As I said, in Poland drivers regularly ignore zebras and cross when there are pedestrians on the crossing... rain or shine. And cars often run red lights (in both countries, but I see it more in Poland). I mean, if you stop for a pedestrian (as you're supposed to) they wave you on because they're too scared to cross when there's a car there. If they are crossing and see a car coming, they step back from the centre island, stepping right back into the roadway rather than wait on the centre island...


Are his/her neighbours royal that he shouldn't be upset? As has been said, the queen has never walked on the lawn of the house, so it isn't a problem.

Put it this way, if a brit went to the toilet on your doorstep. would you congratulate them for shedding their monarchic fetters?

Put it that way. Better. If you understand by analogies.

Can you make a wolf a sheep? Yes, you can. You cut the sheep hairs with leather, put on the wolf, then, the wolf will look like a sheep. That's what royals do and then, you think they are successful and follow their orders. Real sheeps are you.

You were asked not to stray off topic. Consider your next post carefully .

But what has this got to do with a simple question about whether this man's neighbours are being impolite?

I don't follow royal orders any more than you could say Poles follow the vatican laws because the former president was a hard core catholic.

eh,WTF,has babel fish broken down again???
Not sure if you noticed fella,but we brits have chopped the head off one monarch,shoved a red hot poker up the arse of another,deposed countles and swapped one lot for another lot,where as Poland has welcomed every tom, dick and harry from just about everywhere in europe as its kings.....oh,and the queen cant walk anywhere,id like to see here try entering parliement without prior permission,mumpty.

What do you mean by "walk over"? Do they come to visit you or ask you about something? If you live in the countryside it's normal when your neighbours or people you know (or complete strangers) walk into your yard to say hello or have a chat without asking for permission (at least in my region). But not into your garden o_O


Well, that's weird... Where do they go that they have to pass through your garden? o_O
Your garden isn't fenced?

Many in the UK aren't, especially in the suburbs. It isn't considered polite to use an unfenced garden as a short cut though.

Why on earth should it be? Its just basic manners,dont take short cuts on bits of land you dont pay for,end of.
Seems more a Chav thing than a nationality thing as a friend of mine has english neighbours who constantly use his path and gate as their own gateway is getting overgrown with the hedge,ie,lazy feckers.

Wow, really? It's good you've enlightened me about this, I wouldn't have guessed... lol


It was just... a question, you know :) Maybe they don't realise that it's his property as people in Poland are used to the fact that gardens are fenced. Perhaps his "garden" is just a bunch of grass and weeds and they think it belongs to nobody, I don't know. Or maybe his neighbours are simply rude people :) If they don't listen to him maybe it would be a good idea to fence it after all ;)

In Poland almost all gardens seem to be fenced. My in-laws were surprised when I said I didn't want a big fence around our garden (I'd prefer a hedge)... we still got one though (not that it stops people parking in front of the gates or the snow-plough dumping snow across the gateway).


I shouldn't imagine so if it has laminate underneath, and he did say he'd asked them nicely.

What's "laminate"?


In English? ;)

You'd be surprised!


Unlikely given the details of post #1


Sometimes on housing estates that isn't allowed.

Sorry, I got it wrong, it was "membrane". I imagine this is like a layer of film/plastic 'folia' to stop the weeds coming through. (laminate is totally different en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laminate


Well, he did suggest they may not have understood. I like the idea of someone asking to find out these things, rather than just blindly assuming some ignorance.

Don't some countries still hang for that?

In US you might get shot for that!

I know there are some rude people in this world but I don't usually consider myself one of them ;D


Well, I'm not sure yet...


?
I don't think I've ever seen a private garden in Poland without a fence... If she/he has a garden and a yard it means she/he lives in a house so why wouldn't she/he be allowed to fence something on her/his property?


Yes, I've read about this "membrane" in white_lilly's post but to be honest I have no idea what it is :P

Like I said, a kind of 'folia' under the grass to keep the weeds away.


Many estates in UK have open front lawns. It's a kind of cultural thing that people just know not to go on them. Funnily enough, I once read that crime was lower in areas with front lawns.

brooksideclose.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/aa-brookie1.jpg

i can believe that.

i know of a street in wroclaw where the occupants cut down all (front garden) bushes and small trees to make it more difficult for burglars who had been plaguing the area.

HAHA i was gonna say that, there are parts of Philly(badlands) where people have been know to get shot for that, or at the very least got pit bulls loose on em'