Why are Poles always so miserable? Why do they never smile?

I'm sure this is interesting to those who understand it. Could we please at least put English in brackets. I think it's PF policy.

Israeli Jews.


A Jew that immigrates to Israel.


Diasporic Jews.


Girl.


Crazies.


Jews!

Ken means yes?

No wonder, with such statistics.....:

GDP - real growth rate:

-6% (2011 est.)
-4.4% (2010 est.)
-2.3% (2009 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$27,600 (2011 est.)
$29,100 (2010 est.)
$30,400 (2009 est.)

Yup.

Have sex with a crazy drunk middle aged smiling woman?

I never tried such a stunt. ]

Have you? What is it like?

I'm two for three, man. No cougars for this guy.

I have wondered why you do so much smiling in your posts on this site - Whether you are crazy or drunk or some type of polosexual.

PlasticPole


Ken (Yes)!


- Yes.
- That's the plural.
- Yes. The singular is "ol". It could well come from that making alijah (aliyah) is a micwah (mitzvah) per Jeremiah 8:1-6, a kind of (if you will) penei.org/words-ol-yeshua.shtml

- Yes.
- Oy! That could be a pun, too.
- Yes.

My dad and his parents, back to at least their great-great-grandparents on some sides were more interested in their Diasporan tongues.

o my GOd! the polish people do not smile? how it is possible. i have heard a lot of story but never know their manner. i love to hear about war-show

.,,

they smile, but mostly to people they know, rarely to strangers.
They don't want to appear insane.

We do smile but our mouth is upside down installed (:

When on holidays in the wilderness, I never smile to strangers. When I see them nearby, I get pissed off. I don`t say hello or other stupidities like that. I try to ignore them.

After all, I pay too much to get perfect isolation.

Smiling in Poland actually means something, is is not just a mask you put on every day, without any emotion behind it... Mostly I am looking at you, Americans, but most of the West is infected as well, - the obligatory good mood in US can get very creapy: "How are you", "Great!" - even if I know that her dog just died this morning. It freaks me out. On the other hand, this "friendliness" can be shown only on the most superfical level, as apearently even hugging is verboten in Amerika:

clickorlando.com/news/Brevard-County-middle-school-student-suspended-for-hugging-girl/-/1637132/4299476/-/f0amd3z/-/index.html

UK Smile Police strikes!
Man arrested for not smiling during the olympic games

I cannot believe it....

guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/aug/08/olympics-spectator-parkinsons-arrest-smiling

Western enthusiastic extrovert mafia strikes again.



Ugh, what kind of man takes this kind of authority abuse like this? Say what you will about the USA, the average American would sue the sh!t out of the police force and make a fuzz in a case like this. An arrest and two hours of questioning after the man clearly stated that he has facial paralysis and can't smile?

Should even matter if he has Parkinsons or not? You need to smile or the cops'll arrest you now? Great Britain indeed.

Generally, I don't smile unless I have a reason for it. That is meeting someone I like a lot or someone saying something funny or something like that. Damn, I'm starting to appreciate our ever-frowning supermarket cashiers.

Someone should register introverts as a race and start calling the fetishists of an enthusiasm racists.

Polish people smile with their eyes.

I read this recenty:

when you see somebody who doesn't smile it doesn't mean he or she is miserable but maybe he had a bad day or personal problems.so you can't judge someone by their face look:-)

There is some truth in it. Polish doesn't smile a lot in public places.

But I have another questions- Why lots of English have this idiotic, nervous giggle at things which are not remotely funny....It seems to me like nervous reaction to uncomfortable situation...

I found this advice for travelers, and I thought Poles are like that, too.
"Belgium
Don't compliment them on anything. They'll spend the next half hour bringing themselves down and assure you everything and everyone elsewhere is better."

Here is the rest of this thread, about what not to do when visiting. Hillarious!

reddit/r/AskReddit/comments/1ohxlg/what_should_i_absolutely_not_do_when_visiting

I'd have to say this was something that drove me from Poland. In my eight years there, I met many wonderful people, but I just couldn't stand the coldness people/strangers have towards one another. Where we live in the States, there is such a positive supportive vibe between people.

which is fake smiling and then talking sh1t about you when you are not there and then smiling again when you are back.

While Poles are certainly more reticent than Americans I have not felt them to be particularly dour, especially when compared to other the other countries I have lived in (Azerbaijan and Ukraine).

I'm still not used to all the social fakery that goes on in the states.
For example, unless we're sharing something that really needs to be commented on, I am usually taken aback when strangers start talking to me.

I'm also uncomfortable around overly friendly waiters and the like.
I assume those are, partly, residuals of growing up in Poland.
This certainly does not mean that I'm miserable. I just prefer smiles reserved for the moments when one is actually happy to see someone, not a required norm when interacting with anybody and everybody.

That syrupy sickly smile certainly does exist in the States, and maybe I am being unfair because we are now in a small town as opposed to the big city we lived in in Poland. Life in any big city is somehow anonymous.

Some people in this forum need to drop a valium or two.

Well people in small town USA tend to be much friendlier and it's not all fake smiles.

I think so too

No polish people do smile I disagree with you

Don't agree when there is a reason to smile they smile. Why should people smile all the time?
Polish people are very open and warm people when you start/try a conversation especialy when you try it in their language.

Mmmm Sorry, lived here 24 years now. And smiling is in short supply.

Baltic Poles especially are incredibly miserable on the morning commute. I usually take the dog to the office with me and he's the only living thing on the SKM that doesn't look as if a death sentence has just been passed on him.

It's the same story on the ride home as well.

Two reasons for that;
One, most people in America are on some kind of designer drug happy pills (Anti anxiety, pain, anti depressants, booze ect.) and the other half are doing illegal drugs like weed, nose candy, smack.

Second reason is that is because when you smile and are positive you have all kinds of friends.
When you go around with attitude you have no friends and might eventually get shot.
The Polish people have come from generations of instilled fear and tend to mind their own business so are reluctant to offer a smile that may lead to personal conversation and don't have the jingle to visit the doctor or buy happy pills.

Northern and Northeastern Europeans particularly are often known for a bit of the dour in their demeanor, not exclusively the Poles BY ANY STRETCH:-)))!!

Yes, I also found on my first trip to Poland aka Szczecin in the mid-90's that it seemed the women especially, anywhere from eighteen to fifties, had such a pained look on their faces. Then again, this wasn't long after the collapse of Communism still fresh in everyone's mind, and so it wouldn't be fair to judge them on that basis now, would it?

The Germans were long known as sour pusses - in - residence throughout much of the continentLOL

In defense however of our Polish brethren, it must be said that we Yanks are all too frequently long on smiles, yet short on actions!

I'd frankly no end prefer a doughty dour European who gives straight answers to straight questions and doesn't bother with a lot of empty phrases such as "Yer the best!!!", "Hey, how are you today?" and such verbal diahhrea etc. ad nauseum....