Poles start to feel arrogant and superior to Southern Europeans

It shouldn't 'crack you up' as much as sadden you. It certainly saddened me.

I was surprised to learn recently that almost a quarter of Polish men have issues with alcohol abuse. Perhaps it's time to up the prices and encourage use of other, gentler, intoxicants.


Of course not, however countries in eastern and Central Europe do score highly in the rankings for damage caused by alcohol. Oddly enough the French and Spanish, who drink like fish, don't have that. Perhaps it's because they're a wine culture and go for quality rather than quantity.

Oh, don't be such a demagogue, jon357 :)))
What cracked me up was your comment about "vodka and tinned herring" being a "non-Western" thing :):

balticrun.com/vodka-belt-europe/


And Western countries do score highly in the rankings for damage caused by drug abuse:

commonwealthfund.org/blog/2022/too-many-lives-lost-comparing-overdose-mortality-rates-policy-solutions


I think it's mainly due to climate:

"Basically, in the Vodka Belt, it's too cold for grapes to grow."

Of course it does on a much larger scale. However, don`t forget that jon is a true patriot of Poland who expects his adoptive country to be perfect. :):):)

Why not? I enjoy it.. And vodka and preserved fish are certainly east European.


One reason that the move towards liberalisation is positive. And I still think beneficial substances are an 8mprovement on ethanol
movendi.ngo/news/2020/10/14/poland-2019-saw-highest-alcohol-use-in-three-decades


I'd agree with that. Plus the long winters. I have friends who are farmers here that almost hibernate in the winter. Parallels with far north eastern Scotland.

Oh no, no, no, he has been always a very passionate (let us call it that way ;D) English patriot on this forum and it has been always very... obvious :)))


Well, they aren't exclusively Eastern European - vodka is a Baltic Belt thing and that includes Scandinavia :)

And as for tinned herring ;D:

bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27258303

My post was a test. I think he run away. If not let see what he will say.
You talk to me
OK I let it be.
with a smile. lol!


Vodka and pickled herring going well together, the thing is I don't like vodka.. and herring without it is not that great.
I would enjoy a kipper from time to time although I not a great lover of fish in general. It is a Question of preparation I guess.

I love fish, but I don't drink vodka (unless some is put into another drink, I guess) :)))

Still fills the shelves here as well as preserved fish in many forms


And doesn't hesitate to call it as I see it, especially when people try to obfuscate.


As I recall, it was you who started banging on about alcohol in the U.K.and putting links to Grauniad articles. Hard to know why, since at the top of this page it says Polishforums rather than Britishforums.

And yes, strong drink is a problem here

That's good :)))


No, jon357, it was you who started this:

https://polishforums.com/news/poles-start-feel-arrogant-superior-southern-54481/4/#msg1927062

"No, however I do feel sad sometimes when I'm in small town Poland and see the amount of vodka on sale in the poorest places."


And drug abuse is a problem in the UK, yes :)

No Paulina, it was you who first mentioned the U.K. in connection to alcohol and other more enjoyable intoxicants:
https://polishforums.com/news/poles-start-feel-arrogant-superior-southern-54481/4/#msg1927064

And I still think it's like getting into a Time Machine.


As it is in Poland.

It was only in response to your earlier comment and I mentioned the UK specifically, because you're such an insufferable British snob, jon357 :))))


It's much bigger of a problem in the UK though. So don't obfuscate :)))

Indeed. However we're discussing Poland and southern Europe.


More a benefit than a problem, despite prohibitionists.

No, we were discussing "Eastern Europeanism" vs "Westernism" :)))


Whatever you say, jon357:

youtu.be/6mzQfsSUe6Y

Indeed. And vodka culture is rife in the east.


Pennsylvania?

I suppose that's certainly in the west.

And in Scandinavia :)))


Yes, so is the UK and Canada. I was surprised to find out that Canada has one of the highest number of deaths from drug abuse. That's not how I viewed that country...:

thelancet.com/journals/lanam/article/PIIS2667-193X(23)00011-X/fulltext

"After raging and taking-many young-lives at growing levels for more than a decade, the opioid-death crisis is very much alive in Canada; worse yet, it has become widely accepted as a part of everyday reality and therefore embraced as a kind of 'new normal'."

Yes, they restrict sales there.


I'd believe their official stats more than I'd believe some

Yes, the vodka culture was so strong there that they had to restrict it :)))


Meaning??

Something Poland ought to do, although doubtless people would try to undermine that.

Issues in Sweden however differ from those in Poland, both in terms of support for alcohol abusers and the availability and price of strong drink.

@jon357, that's not what I was talking about. I meant that traditionally, culturally Scandinavia belongs to the Vodka Belt:

mybartender.com/articles/where-is-the-vodka-belt/

Whether they've been trying to combat that and how - is another matter. I haven't been to any Scandinavian country, but our English teacher at high school spent some time in Sweden and he told us that they put all those restrictions in place and stronger alcohol is expensive there, because the Swedes were drinking so much.

When something is part of tradition, culture - it's difficult to change or get rid of.

Here's an interesting view:

visitstockholm.com/eat-drink/nightlife/alcohol-in-sweden/

'The differences in attitude towards alcohol, between southern and northern Europe, go back a long way, says Eva Lenneman. In countries like France, Italy and Spain wine has been a part of everyday-life since at least the Middle Ages. Up north, alcohol has been closely tied to holidays, dinners, vacations, weekends, and other festive occasions in general. It's been concentrated on fewer occasions, but the main goal has been - more often than not - to get wasted, to put it bluntly.

"Traditions are hard to change, though. Even if we have a more continental mindset nowadays, we've simply added our old habits to the southern European everyday drinking".'

Indeed. Though I've not seen drunks passed out in the street there, or miniature 200ml bottles in every bin. And those miniature bottles just seem to be getting more and more unfortunately.


Extremely, and trying t9 get rid of something can often reinforce it unless there's a genuine mass will to change it.

Perhaps it could be developed rather than changed. Perhaps ban the (as some countries have banned packets of 10 cigs] and reduce the strength of spirits (and beer on the market.

I haven't seen any here with my own eyes either (if they're there, they're being picked up by the police, from what I know). I remember seeing one guy years ago in Kraków sleeping at a lawn - he looked like he was homeless. I sometimes see an odd drunk in my neighbourhood and one once took a nap on a bench in the morning.

There's obviously a problem with alcoholism in Poland, but it's not like drunks are just lying there in the streets o_O

Also, keep in mind that Sweden started combating alcohol abuse quite some time ago.


As I wrote to you already - both in Poland and in the UK alcohol consumption increased due to the pandemic, so I'm not surprised by this at all.

Quite so. Contrast this with the many thousands of passed-out-drunk orcs littering the streets of Moscow, and you can see that Poland is still in quite decent shape. Hahahaha!

I have. Often.

I've also seen young women swigging extra strong lager from cans in their handbags at 7.30 am on the way to work.

And once a doctor, drunk on duty.


This is the issue. Other places raise the prices incrementally and take other measures. Here, the problem is worse and the challenge not really addressed well.

I don't know why you find it necessary to spread disgusting lies about the country which has hosted you for so long.

If you hate Poland so much, why don't you go back to your stinkin' England. Ha! Maybe in the past Poles wanted to go there to work, but now even the poorest Pole knows that life in Poland promises more opportunities than in your decaying country.

Instead of talking about how much Poles drink, why not discuss the healthcare crisis in Mordor - where children begin to consume vodka at the age of 9? Is this because you only like to talk dirt about Poles?

I think they're getting killed in the streets of Ukraine these days... ;P


I've never seen that either.


I've read on the news about such stuff happening sometimes, but it never happened to me, fortunately, or anyone I know.

I haven't noticed anything done about alcohol abuse problem in Poland either though. It seems the state thinks the problem will somehow resolve itself on its own, I don't know.

Btw, I have a "funny" story from Warsaw. Once I went to Warsaw to see an eye doctor. In order to check my eyes he poured something into them to make my pupils dilate. When I was coming back from the doctor this stuff still worked and I remember walking through one of those underground passages and one guy looked at me and gave me such a wide berth when passing next to me that I almost laughed ;D I guess he must've thought that I'm a junkie or something?? lol

Hahaha! Good one! It's always funny when a person makes a joke involving dying orc rapists))) Truly a degenerate culture, that everyone should stay as far away from as possible.


I have never been to Poland, but I have also never seen Polish women drinking lager on their way to work. This is how you know that Jon is just lying, in typical Brit fashion.

I have sadly. It was in Poznan, fortunately not recently.

And the thing with the doctor was odd. Patients were sitting outside his office refusing to go in and whispering and the nurse there looked frightened. The whole thing was surreal. Hopefully he got some help and was kept well away from patients.


I suspect there's an element of that. Where I'm from originally it can get a bit full on, especially with special offers and discounts on alcohol being banned however most of Europe has a long way to go. I've a feeling economic change might make a difference, though education raised prices/fewer licences to sell may help. Perhaps the Italians call it right.


I get looked at all the time in winter for not wearing a winter coat. People think I either can't afford one, have just been robbed or am crazy.

We're trying, you know :P


Hey, it's you who's all for sending them to Ukraine and them dying there. Don't forget.


The thing is, I wasn't dressed like a bum, obviously, I was wearing a pretty elegant clothes and yet the guy was like:



;D

Are you sure it wasn't your face. ?

@Ironside, yes, I'm sure it wasn't about my face - people normally don't react like that when they see me ;D But he looked straight into my eyes and he must've noticed how dilated my pupils were and I guess it freaked him out lol