Poles - the Nation of Liars?

And nobody here thinks it at all odd.

Somebody once explained that by saying that the culture of bureaucracy developed during the communist years and the changes that people couldn't avoid were so traumatic that as little as possible of anything else was changed.

Doesn't quite ring true though.

no it doesn't.


you are welcome

I honestly feel your pain, Wroclaw. Some brainless frustrated cow in the town hall has just torpedoed some important paperwork of mine, seemingly on a whim, and I have no option but to pass it on to the 'kancelariat' and wait until they're able to deal with it. God I hate dealing with these idiots. No accountability, no sense of responsibility, no comeback at all. It was a breath of fresh air coming back to the UK to deal with the Inland Revenue.

The answer - fire every third petty bureaucrat, increase the responsibility on the rest and increase their salary commensurately. If anyone official is reading I can provide a few names as a starting point.

Miranda,

Making this kind of generalizations is irresponsible and unfair. You can't judge all the peopl in Poland and speak as if you know everybody in Poland. Do you even live in Poland now?


What policies you have in mind? Be specific and stop making generalizations! Just because something doesn't make sense to you does not mean that it doesn't make sense to everybody.

I see what you mean wroclaw about polish people being defensive when cornered.

Wroclaw boy it is simple.You have to bribe some people to do the job done.That is all about public sector in many countries.

Yes, it was a generalization, but well researched and based on experiance, so it is valid.That inclues my dear family members as well - I love them to death, but that doesn't mean I will not be critical of them. One doesn't exclue the other. I am not going to tell you stories, becuse it would take me forever. I can relate to fereigners better than a Pole.

I am in Poland at least once a year. Don't be so defensive.
Oh, story from ZUS - they made a mistake, so I went and ask them to look at it again - the woman didn't know the computer program, so I asked her to ask somebody else to help her. She did. In the meantime - her friend told me off becasue I was not pleasant. Sure I wasn't - it was my money. I told her off, becuase what right she had to even comment.

Post office. I went back the next day- the clerk made a mistake of undercharging me the day before - she made up some lie to cover her ass - I asked for a supervisor, case closed. It was so obvious that she was lying in my face. If I mae a mistake at work, I would just accept it and cover it from my own pocket.

I'm not being defensive. In his original post (and his other posts too) WroclawBoy made a lot of unfair generalizations. I just wanted to to point that out.



Miranda, I feel for you but these things happen every where. WroclawBoy was trying to imply that bad things happen in Poland only. That is far fetched generalization.

OK - do you have some experiance with dealing with the red tape in Poland?

i find anglo blood lines to lie the most.

sure, I know what you mean. All Polish people don't lie, also people have provided examples of lies form other coutries in this thread. So I still believe that there are some things that should work better in Poland - especially the services.

Lying is different from deceiving or refusing to do something in expectation of a bribe.

wow, i've been living here on and off for 6 years, and a nation of liars is not the description i'd have come up with. The red tape is crap, but have you considered hiring a secretary or personal assistant when it comes to these matters?

But about "waiting in line with the rest of the scum" hey bruv, you don't know who's paid what dues to whom. I admit that thoughts like that can creep into my head too, but yah gotta keep yourself in check. Read the poem "the red wheel barrow" sums it all up for me.

Whoa, Miranda's got slick cornered, I'm on the edge of my seat!

yeh, the drama of PF - never fails;P

I did and im guilty. The argument still stands

I don't drink , smoke or lie, dammit I left my cigarettes in the bar. Carol

Lying IS deceiving, if a lie is not a deception WHAT IS IT THEN ?.

doing something wrong in order to get a bribe is corrupt and worse than lying.

"I want some beer."
"Okay, let's go to the off-licence."

... later...

"Okay, here are my 10 bottles of beer. What are you getting?"
"I'm not drinking anything."

The sentences in bold were spoken by a Polish man.
One of those sentences was a lie.
Guess which one.

the lie is whatever statment is false. other than that hw are we supposed to know we are not mind readers

That one makes me angry every time!

Well done, Sherlock.


Either:
By not having been able to read anyone's mind.

Or:
Ever heard of puntuation?

Ever heard of puntuation

No? Is that some kind of retirement scheme for Cambridge Gondoliers?

Irony of this is for 60 years the Polish were told to live a lie, now everyone calls them the liars... misinformed ....lied to... = ?

Carol

Unfortunately, Poland has a long way to learn the proper way of servicing the public. The staff and the paperwork required are beyond comprehension of anybody who lives abroad and has to deal with it, when they need to. The customer is still just a "nuisance" to be dealt with and not a person to be helped. I just had a long conversation this evening with a person who came from Poland. She was there for about 4 months, so she went to a doctor, the dentist, post office...whatever. She stood in lines and steamed inside at the inefficiency and luck of respect for a customer.

If you make an appointment with a dentist for 10 a.m. and the he 'shows up' at 2 p.m. without a word of apology for all his waiting clients, what would you think? This punk would be out of business in The US within first month or sooner.

u know the whole nation?? wow, you sure do get around buddy ... thats alot of people
to keep track of.. generally speaking, my cousins live in Poland, my cousin Wiktoria
is 84 years old and I really doubt that you made any appts with her, she cant get around much these days and if your calling my cousin a liar ( generally speaking) then

I do take offense for her sake because its morons who speak of a whole population
that make harsh judgements of people when its only few theyve dealt with...

please recant and make a proper statement...


ok give examples.. what is it that doesnt make sense?

- Isn't the above a lie? Should I, based on your statement, generalise that yours is a nation of liars?

Actually, the Poles are certainly one of the most vilified nations by some nations....


- Also many foreigners, like yourself, have - I imagine successfully - moved to Poland, and I imagine it wasn't too hard for them. Should I feel really annoyed about it?

And what 'extremely informative websites' for Poles explaining all issues pertaining to moving to England, Ireland and Scotland do you mean, mate? :)


- Don't you grossly exaggerate with this 'biggest nightmare'? Have you been to other countries? E.g. I know Polish people in England waiting for the National Insurance Number 1 year or longer. Every time they inquire with the appropriate officials, they are being send from the pillar to the post. When I tried to open an account in one of the banks, I had to provide, apart from any ID I had, also verbal references - just tell I knew one respectable person in the town I lived in, and then I had to wait for the decision for a week or so. Then they asked me for another ID, another document, another bill... Have you ever tried to get on the Ryanair plane heading from Stansted to Poland? Have you seen how some Polish people - perfectly alright folks - are treated by some of the creeps in yellow vests with the words 'Here to Help' or something like that on them? I can give thousands of similar examples from various countries I've visited.

Therefore, let me ask you perfectly honestly, without any sweet lies: aren't you a bit megalomaniac as regards your own country, and aren't you using a double-standard as regards Poland?

And yes, some Polish office employees are often arrogant and not very helpful, and it's indeed annoying (perhaps even more so to a foreigner?), and the line-ups are annoying too. But isn't it similar in other countries? Speaking from my own experience, I must say that the office (sub)culture in Poland has changed temendously for the better since communism.

The title of your post may be an honest expression of your perceptions, but it's contrary to facts and very insulting to me as a Pole.

At the end of the day it 'ain't what ya know its who ya know!

I agree Wroclaw that the red tape that it is a pain in the ass, but get your self a PA or a Polish wife and be generous with the officials.

- That's right, buddy. The red tape is a pain on the a$$ anywhere at all.

Yes, but there just seems to be so much more of it over here.


Afraid so and its a nightmare with all the Poles pushing and shoving trying to get the best seats. Like a bunch of sheep no decensy or manners it just look after no: 1 and to hell with everyone else. A mentality which unfortunatley is common all over Poland in most apsects of everyday life.

So f. out, świński ryju.