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

Too true! I'll stop complaining pronto:)

The English though are somewhere in between:-) On the one hand, most swear by the modicum of civility and friendly "Cheers!" when processing my train ticket. On the other hand, many, like a lot of Poles, are singularly grump looking when asked to do something outside their job description.

Ive often wondered this! I live in Edinburgh & we have lots of poles & let me tell you they are by far & away the worst people I have ever met in all my 40 years, What gets me the most thou is if they hate us all so much well why do they choose to live & work here, Frankly I hate them! there horrible/abusive scum & I am praying to god we leave the Eu come this june, Ive traveled loads & my experience with polish people has always been bad! even thou i go out my way to be polite & try & make conversation!

Kingdoc whats the deal ? Have you lost your girl or your job to a pole ?

Poles abroad are, as with many nationalities, usually different AT HOME!!!

Indeed, coming from a country upon which centuries of both economic as well as cultural abuse had been heaped, as "second fiddle" to richer neighbors, surely a certain attitude, if you will, is bound to come out when in foreign lands:-)

Not that I'm giving the Poles as a group any excuses, but if one were female from a certain part of the world, and the immediate perception was that of either slut or drunkard or dumbell or both, well, I think that person would develop a bit of a crusty exterior also.

I just came back from Poland Gdansk and had an amazing time! Played/jammed with a band and made some good friends. Yes people are a little stiff but maybe it has something to do with there communist history and weather:). Things seem to be improving quickly though with regards to night life and culture. I did not see many miserable people except on the tram i suppose but i see loads of that in England as well. Beautiful country. Sunnier countries will obviously be more cheerful and energetic. ( Im South African )

Poles are generally focused and serious when in the presence of strangers aka foreigners of unknown quantity or intention. In this way, they're not too unlike many Northern Europeans, such as many North Germans and the Swedes Among their own in a casual setting and the right amount of alcohol, they smile and laugh plenty, just like anybody else, believe meLOL

And all the low paying jobs have to contribute to their misery as well. Especially when some expat is willing to come into their country and take these low paying jobs, forcing native Poles to keep working for peanuts.

Too bad they don't have unions in Poland like we do in the USA and Germany.

True.

My friend is working as Uber driver.
He meet foreigners on daily bases and he told me he never meet a foreigner who has good experience from Poland.
Even Polish people who have spent most of the time outside Poland has the same saying about Poles.
For example one Polish women who spent most of her time in US told my friend that i woke up in the morning and my cousin was asking me why you are happy and smiling, it's just morning....and she was like what?

One guy suggested that it's due to post communism or Poverty thing. But i disagree.
I have been to other post communism countries like Belarus and to poor countries like Pakistan & Afghanistan. but people are very happy there. even in the war zones...i don't know what's wrong with Polish people. seriously!

Oh, come on. Just because someone doesn't grin all over all the time doesn't mean they're miserable.
Personally, I prefer a genuine smile than a fake smile stuck on your face just because you want people to believe you're happy even if you're not.

I agree with Kaprys. I cannot stand that fake smile that people do.

They never smile cuz they have tooth rot

I'm living in the UK now and my mood changed from grumpy to neutral. I really don't know why. Even stupid how are you doesn't make me angry. Maybe because I'm working among black people and they are almost always happy and have a great sense of humor. Indian guys are not far behind. In this situation is difficult to keep a serious poker face. You need adjust. I will see what happens next. The investigation is ongoing ;)

We have a "resting b*tch face". Most likely because of our high cheekbones and deep eyes.

Seems quite similar to my initial contact with Germans, both East and West! A smile upon initial eye contact was as rare as the Star of India and considered a gift rather than merely an expected reaction as is true here in the States. When I received one, I felt myself lucky that day:-)

I prefer the European way of being a little reserved over the fake smile overload here in the US.

I as well, TheOther. Heck, I lived there long enough. If I couldn't have stood the heat, I would've gotten out of the Continental kitchen a LONG time ago!!

Give me honest to gosh German or Polish grumpy face any day of the week compared with the passively false smile of the US.

At least in those countries, ya nearly always know where ya stand:-)

@Lyzko

Same.. I can't stand fake smiles laughs or fairness n insincerity in general. Us is very dog eat dog and b.s. about appearances and all that jazz..

Altho I wouldn't say that poles r all grumpy... Maybe if you're in the city n ppl r rushing to work home etc r n just preoccupied. Go to the zoo park city squares bars stadiums concerts shows and ull see ppl of all types old and young polish or not having fun and smiling

I did notice there seem to be more fist fights at bars n clubs than us. However at some in the us n latam at rly sketchy spots every so often you hear on the news of people just going right for the pistol. One time it occurred while I was in a club in the us n it was a very popular place so kind of unexpected. An Asian (I believe triad) gangster started shooting at a group bc one of the guys in it tried to pick up his girl

Poles here are slightly different from Poles at home. If you were a trained professional in your country and were forced to work way beneath your level every day of your life in America, while inferior people around were making much more for doing much less, you'd be grumpy too!

Nobody forced them to leave their country and work for a pittance somewhere else.

I believe it's all about cultural differences. Poles, French, Germans, Dutch, Austrians and other Europeans would never call someone they've just met a "friend" (like in the US for example). If you have a 180 degree grin in your face when meeting them for the first time, they will automatically consider you to be somewhat "strange" or worse. The other way around: when Anglos meet Europeans, they often think they are arrogant or grumpy because they don't smile immediately and don't pretend to be overly excited to meet you. It's a simple misunderstanding.

Ahem, someone looks for work as either an engineer, teacher, doctor or lawyer, yet is told nearly every step of the way, "THERE'S A GLUT IN YOUR FIELD, DUDE!! LOOK ELSEWHERE AND DEAL WITH IT!", duh- I think that's sort of a no-brainer that it may be time to pull up stakes and GO!!! Yeah, TheOther, that's what I call being forced to leave:-)

As to the rest of your statement in the second paragraph of your post, I'd have to agree 100%, having lived for a spell in Austria, Germany, and even more briefly, in The Netherlands. Poles too generally have little to any pretense about their immediate wishes, one reason perhaps why they can often come across to us as appearing somewhat "rough around the edges". Like the Israelis in fact, Polish people in their body language often seem to be saying,"If something's clearly wrong, why waste valuable time being polite about it? Simply eliminate the problem and set things right, that's all. Offend the other person's thin skin??

Too f*****k bad!!"

Not a difficult to understand position. It doesn't though take into account foreign diets which may or may not lead to diabetes etc., conditions which make many middle-aged American women, for instance, exceptionally thin-skinned. Perhaps in Poland, the latter is far less of an issue, add to that, in such a relatively homogeneous country, everyone probably has similar problems and so knows how to deal with them.

Well, and then your engineer ends up working as a plumber (to use that stereotype) who undercuts local wages somewhere else. How is that better?

It isn't! All I'm saying is that I can remember quite well Polish supers in New York apt. buildings as a teenager, and most were middle-aged men with bad attitudes and sour pusses because they were frequently taking their orders from minority tenants (the late 70's remember and affirmative action for women, blacks, Hispanics etc.) who had far less education than they, but were literally forced to work at some job, and being by luck somewhat dextrous as well as tough looking, were able to bribe their way into a job they could hold onto for life without working too hard. Meager salary at the time compared with now, but plenty of sick days and a modicum of job security.

Once, our Polish super had a wee bit too much to drink on New Year's Eve and made a slur in front of our African-American neighbor. She complained blue murder, but the super barely got a slap on the wrist.

A double-edged sword now, isn't it?

Well poles cant be men they drink listen to music beat their wives and Try to be macho But not in front of me Well my roommate is a pole and overall a nice guy...

so exceptions are there
Kurwa!!!!!

I am from Montreal btw doing my MS
AND I am a Punjabi jatt
And i love polish history Hexer series books and movies and serials and games
By andrej Sapkowski

In India women are treated with the highest respect, if they are no killed right after birth they usually get raped. Penchot!

Well dude u got issues with spelling Well a polish girl approached me and offered to sleep if i taught her english
I can speak
English
French
Hindi
Punjabi
With ease
And its called
Bhenchod
Means
Sisterfucker
Next time take care

It's in Hindi and also Gujrati, in Punjabi it starts with "p"


That's what you are, small loolee penchot

Yaar you have a hard time working ur ass off in NCR i guess
Well i never had to go to that filthy place
And look now where am i lololololol
Come to canada bro
We will chill together

I think its more of a miserable European trait.

Most Poles in Chicago seem apparently happy and friendly. You do run across an occasional grumpy person, but not many. Its probably become they found decent jobs, making higher wages. They own nice homes and cars now. There is a thriving Polish community here in Chicago and business is good!

They have plenty to be happy about, rather than living in gloomy old Europe! LoL