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You need a correct attitude for Autumn and Winter. We call it "jesieniarstwo" (od jesień = autumn). These seasons are more for you to keep to yourself, at home, with fluffy blankets and pillows, a hot beverage and a book or some films...
You made a video earlier claiming Poles favour social order over individual rights, so similar to Asia. That's not entirely true. Poland was the only country outside of Great Britain to have individual protections for people - laws similar to Habeas Corpus and later Constitution of 3rd May were passed. Poland enjoyed the largest number of voters in the world in past centuries, more than in the UK and before the US was created. Poles had LIBERO VETUM where one MP could scuttle a whole law initiative when he vetoed it. That comes from Polish individualism and liberty. That was tempered somewhat by communism but even so that's still in our traditions and we refer back to our traditions. So Poland is not like autocratic countries eg Prussia or Holy Roman Empire or Russia but is more like the United States. Google people like Tadeusz Kosciuszko and Pulaski. Now Poles do have the continental law system and much of that is Napoleonic and we have had communism where you know it was more collectivist and "Comrade Mr this" or "comrade doctor that" but we are proud of our liberal traditions. Did you know that when WW1 ended Poland gave women the vote? France did not, because women were too conservative. Did you know Poland made homosexuality legal in the 1920s, while in the UK and US it was punishable by jail?
American style costumer service is cruelty against humans. Workers are expected to act like clowns, while poorly paid and overworked. There were attempts to force American style of service in specific franchises. But either employees left the jobs or ironically most costumers also consider it as annoying. They usually expect from cashier to do his job fast and not delay service with ridiculous chit chat. But yeh, someone used to American slaves, would be surprised by how things are done here.
@@TheRezro No. Good customer service is important. The service in many stores in Europe is rude. Polish service used to be terrible where they would curse you out in the 80s but it's still not the best service. They take a tea break and tell you to sod off. Yes PLUS cell phone outlets in PL do that. Good customer service isn't about ki11sing a$$ but about being courteous and efficient.
The politeness of service in shops and restaurants in the US is simply artificial. Forced cheerfulness, smiles and servility. It's like interacting with a robot
I think people should really learn to just call things "different" and not "bad" when they don't meet their expectations. Saying the service is bad means that it should aspire to some other standard. And that's just wrong. We just have different standards. Things that Wes describes- having employees harass you or feeling like they're there to "serve" you , sounds like an absolute nightmare. Same with the social culture- people minding their own business isn't being rude or closed off- respecting someone's personal space is a sign of good manners. Being all over someone, being loud and getting too close to someone would be considered disrespectful.
Asians are perceived by (most) Poles as hard-working and success-oriented people. This is something that is appreciated and respected in Poland (in most cases).
Of course. Work hard, pay taxes and respect our culture. Simple. Only people who brings their own shit and trying to implement, having problem in Poland.
You don't understand that Poles are very honest and show and say what they actually think and feel. It's not a fake show like in American society. When a Pole gets angry, he shows anger, when he likes you, you feel that it really is. The smile is sincere, not fake, painted on the face for social correctness.
Why do ppl in customer service think their feelings (especially those not easy ones like anger or frustration) it's something that should be shown in the workplace? Your work is a place only for professional behaviour.
@@althenescarabae2615they're professional about being real. No wonder someone is tired talking to a stupid customer and they express it cause we fought for freedom that others took away from us
@@althenescarabae2615 Because we're not robots. I'm not going to yell at my client, but I'm definitely going to tell them that what they're doing is not right.
I know what both of you trying to say i mean when client before piss you off you should not take it out on the next person, and suprisingly if you stay calm for this few first second most of the time other person will calm down (from my expierience) but if someone yell at me for something is out of my control as simple worker? Well they will got it right back! And believe the thing people can say to your face is insane. So, respect yourself people you are not a slave.
In shops I want to be alone and look on product and have time to think if I want to buy it or not. I feel unconfortable if strangers are to friendly and push themself on me too much. So this is not bad for me.
This is exactly why our customer service is just like it is. None of the "American style customer service" companies were successful here and eventually found out that harassing people when they are shopping will not make you sell more stuff.
Ekspedient w Polsce nie powinien pytać: "W czym mogę pomóc?", bo to jest niegrzeczne; sugeruje, że klient sobie nie radzi. Uprzejma forma brzmi: "Czym mogę służyć?"
@@rustybronco2957 Służyć to może sługa, pracownik jest równorzędnym człowiekiem względem klienta. Pomoc natomiast nie jest uwłaczająca ponieważ nikt nie jest wszechwiedzący i może nie odnajdywać się w aktualnym środowisku dlatego pytanie "W czym mogę pomóc" jest jak najbardziej na miejscu i nie spotkałem się z sytuacją żeby ktokolwiek był takim pytaniem urażony.
You missed polish way to small talk -How are you? -Bad. My dog died, and my father has cancer. -Thats bad. My mom had cancer too, and she died. ... Its like typical conversation in Poland.
@@Derayes well I was not prepair but, Just let him let it go with his problems, listen to him, said that I am sorry. This type of behavior, cause I am Polish girl I was not like "everything will be ok" mood cause it could be even taken offensive. I trully was sad about this whole situation. I did not to pretend to act concern.
American politeness in services? Try not to give a tip. I'ts blowing my mind to pay obligatory more than the fixed price. I usually give tips in PL, but it's up to me.
Tips are absurd in most cases: if I order from card, not ask any more question to waiter etc., why would someone receive a tip if he did his most basic duty? I don't get tips/bonuses in my job and neither does any of my colleagues of friends, so why would I give bonus to someone who doesn't do anything extraordinary?
AFAIK, in US there are two different minimal wages - one the regular and the other (much lower) for jobs with tipping. Most waiters earn this lower minimum wage and by itself it's not enough to survive, pay the bills etc. - they are actually depending on these tips to be a significant part of their income. That's why in US you are always expected to give a tip and that's why waiters are incentivized to fake happiness and politeness . It's pretty f***ed up system if you think about it.
@@psow4062 Here in PL you can't get paid less than minimal wage, my friend was working in the kebab delivery once and he got like half the daily pay extra in tips once
@@psow4062 I believe main idea was to convince people that they are working for scraps, but they will not need to pay taxes from tips so this is a good deal for them. Well it's not.
Poles know how to laugh and smile, but they do it with people they know. I see no reason to smile falsely at strangers and I don't like it when people do it to me. Many Poles consider this type of behavior abnormal. Fake smiles and behaviors are the best way to fool people. In life we should be reserved and distrustful of strangers. Either way, the lack of smiles among Poles is not due to sadness. Honestly, I never paid attention to this type of thing. Until I heard about it. Foreigners have interesting observations, but wrong ones. Poles are very smiling and joyful people. It all depends on the situation and relationship with the person. ;)
@@Derayes ofc I'm joking. I'm Polish, we're sarcastic to the core. But there is this thing, that people in this part of the world don't smile without a reason. We just work differently I guess. For us, neutral face is a natural expression. So the normal look on the Polish face is this: 😐
I am a 25-year-old woman, Polish with a fiancé, a ring on my finger and in two years we will get married and have our own family apartment. We dream of two children. And he is studying accounting. This is a dream life and although I had teenage madness in my head, every person should grow up sometime. The culture of sex seems to be so empty and unpleasant for us. My chosen one is now my best friend and best partner. We believe that successful communication, nurturing the relationship and feeling are the key to success. I think that many Polish women will agree with me. And monogamy is a kind of commitment to oneself. Promises of fidelity as an art of trust, love and honesty.
Polacy nie maja w kodzie kulturowym uśmiechania się jak głupi do sera. Po prostu jak widzisz uśmiech naszej twarzy wiesz że jest szczery. Jeśli go nie ma - to tez nie jest źle, po prostu traktujemy cię neutralnie i uprzejmie.
Często widujesz ów uśmiech? Bo ja najczęściej widzę bawole spojrzenie spode łba. A uśmiech nie musi oznaczac głupoty ani fałszu tylko przyjazne nastawienie. Owo bawole spojrzenie upodabnia nas do ludów zza wschodniej granicy ew Bliskiego Wschodu.
@@Derayes Uprzedzenie, może wynikające z miejsca, w którym mieszkasz. Ja mam takie doświadzenie -przez blisko 30 lat zapierdlalało się żeby dzieci zyły lepiej. Napędzały nas kompleksy wobec ościennych państw, nawet Ukrainy o Węgrzech juz nie wspommnę. Coś się udało. Ale usmiech był na imprezach wśród znajomych i bliskich osób a nie na ulicy. Może zaczniemy się uśmiechac jak głupi do sera.
@@jankowalski3220 jakie znowu uprzedzenie ? Ja jestem stary Warszawiak i miejsce zamieszkania tego nie zmieni. Kompleksy wobec Ukrainy? O czym Ty piszesz czlowieku??? i co Ty z tym serem? Chodzi o normalny uprzejmy usmiech zamiast wiecznie bawolej gęby.
@@Derayes Nic nie pisałem o kompleksach wobec Ukrainy dzisuejszej. O tej z końcówki lat 80-tych owszem. Wyszliśmy z PRL z goła dupą. Pisałem też o kompleksach wobec "napływowych". Kompleks wyższości to tez kompleks. Czytaj a potem odpisuj jak masz ochoę.
@@jankowalski3220 Ukraina w latach 80 to był jeden z najbogatszych i najlepiej rozwiniętych regionów zsrr. Centrum przemysłowe, gdzie powstawały okręty podwodne z tytanu, reaktory jądrowe, rakiety i satelity kosmiczne, glowice pocisków międzykontynentalnych i wiele wiele innych wysokich technologii. W latach 80 i na początku 90 Ukraina była bogatsza od Polski, później to się całkowicie rozjechało, Ukraina straciła swój rozwinięty przemysł w dużej mierze.
After watching a few videos, I had to subscribe. Since I was a kid in elementary school in Germany, Polish people have been around me. They even build homes for immigrants coming from Poland in the 80s where I grew up. My teacher sat a kid from Poland next to me so he could learn the language. We spend school breaks together. did the homework together and even spend our free time with others. Within a year he was able to speak the language. Not just because of me but he was fully integrated in the normal life. Since then I can say, Polish people are very dear to me and I spend my last 2 summer vacations (2022 & 2023) in Poland at the Baltic Sea. Not only is the beach beautiful, but the people are as well. In my opinion Polish people get a bad rep because once you get to know them, they are great company. The Polish people I've came across do not have that "Polish" smile 😀 Keep up the good work!
I will share with you an observation: during my stay in the United States, I often felt embarrassed in stores and restaurants, because the service, according to the standards I knew, was not so much very polite, but even degraded in servility. I don't know - maybe the boss was watching, and due to the lack of a civilized legal Labor Code in America, they could have been fired overnight, or maybe they thought they would get bigger tips? It was very sad and many of my friends from other European countries shared my view. As for the low birth rate in Poland, there are many theories and speculations and many "wise men" who think they know the answer. The diagram you showed shows that since the 1960s, maybe apart from the 1980s, the birth rate has been gradually decreasing in Poland. You are probably right in saying that with the change of the political system and the emergence of the free market after 1989, people began to have professional priorities related to career, earning money, etc., which resulted in a decline in interest in starting a family early, and, moreover, Polish women began to give birth later than in times of communism. But the situation is complex and there is no single explanation. There are many factors contributing to this state of affairs. For example, the situation on the housing market, not so easy availability (at least for many years) of housing loans, insufficient social care in the form of widely available nurseries and kindergartens, lack of trust in successive governments that promised something and then withdrew from these social promises , or implemented them only partially, the level of average wages in relation to living expenses - and finally, in the last four years: first the pandemic, and then the war in Ukraine. So there is a lot of fear, and when people are afraid, they tend not to think about having children.
There are reasons why Polish people are not so open to people they don't know. We were invaded by other countries longer than the USA exists. Being distrustful to someone you don't know seems to be the aftermath of totalitarian regimes trying to overrule Poles. But as long as you get into the inner circle, you can experience how faithful Polish friendship can be.
There is one more thing, a small one but it kinda surprised me when i was growing up. Westerners usually uses emotes, while typing "XD" feels childish for them. In central and eastern europe emotes are labeled mostly for children and boomers to be honest XD 90% of young people there finds using "XD" to be more natural than using emotes, as long as you are typing with someone your age
We;re not frugal, we just can't afford very expensive things. Foreigners say it's so cheap here, it is for you, not for us living here everyday. Flats and houses in Poland are currently the most expensive in Europe.
While also having one of the worst wages in Europe. Also foreign banks are exploiting poles as the rates for mortgages and fees are usually over 10x higher than in Europe. Great example is BNP, where in France a mortgage for 300k euro home comes to a total of 370-380k and in Poland mortgage for 500k PLN flat costs around 950k. So not even 1/4 cost vs almost double.
You are probably just broke or can't manage your finances. I currently work at a dead end minimal wage job and I absolutely can afford buying clothes or electronics for a few thousand dollars to show off. I just choose not to because I think it's lame and stupid. If you rent a flat in Warsaw, Kraków or Wrocław and live there alone then maybe stop being delusional and find something more affordable. A family where both parents work will have no problem renting a flat even in Warsaw. It's always broke ass students who complain
I am a Pole and I love the way Polish people are like.I smile when I feel like ,not because it's "good to do that".I do not care if other people like it or not- that's none of my business.We also speak our mind- if you can't bear it- do not talk to us
"Polish smile" is pretty much same as "Finnish smile" or scandinavian. I have a feeling that for some reason it's only us taking beating for that fact.
@@katarzynakoataj1052 W Szwecji wydawało mi sie, ze Szwedzi uśmiechają sie do siebie znacznie częściej, czasem sztucznie. A Finowie zrobili na mnie wrażenie dużo cichszych i spokojniejszych niż Polacy, ale jeśli chodzi o "uśmiech społeczny" - są bardzo podobni :). Sa tez tak samo jak my bezpośredni w reakcjach, a zarazem respektują cudzą przestrzeń i respektują, tak jak Polacy, podstawowe dobre maniery, w przeciwieństwie do Szwedów, którym wyłazi czasem wręcz komicznie słoma z butów i nawet sobie z tego nie zdają sprawy... Finowie są też podobnie gościnni i pomocni wobec innych jak Polacy.
In actually, this "everything is close in Sunday" thing is quite new even for polish ppl, as it was by the law change from few years ago. And there is still a debate to bring back shopping on Sundays.
@@WheresWes I live in Krakow and it's really not a problem. Smaller supermarkets and bakeries are open on Sundays. I never go to big shopping mals so it makes no difference to me
@@WheresWesthat's cause sunday is family rest day. You should give all your time for family or rest. Most people do shopping and also clean up their house in saturday.
im hetero polish girl in her twenties, and most people my age are like "whatever" about lgbt, i have many lgbt friends just because they are cool to hang around with and thats all, it doesnt matter to me what sex do they prefer and its pretty common perspective from what ive experienced in my daily life there are extreme sides of the same coin tho
Yeah, there are lots of lgbt ppl especially in bigger cities, we just like to treat ppl according to who they are and not who they’re into, so they might not be a community as “visible” as in other countries. I like that polish society is overall much less homophobic than it was let’s say 10-15 years ago
In the west there are still many homophobes like in Poland. They are just hiding behind their keyboards and have no balls to tell people irl what they really think or they are just muslim and homophobic by default. We just don't have same sex marriages or some silly anti speech laws against LGBT (unfortunately we have them in other matters tho), and that's why Poland is last in all these rankings. A gay couple holding hands in a Polish city is probably safer than in western Europe with so many deeply homophobic muslims
I think there is a different situation in Warsaw, where you can find large Vietnamese and Chinese diaspora. I grew up in Warsaw, so in my high school were at least 3-4 Asians mostly vietnamese origins (but born in Poland), I also had a friend from Mongolia. So for me Asian people weren't strangers, they were friends. After I moved to Kraków I realised that except tourists there are not many Asians as i thought before. You should go to Warsaw and discover Asian enclaves :)
When it coms to the customer service, speaking as a Pole, I believe we often just acknowledge that the workers are just there doing their job and that they are doing this to get paid, so we as customers try to respect that by not giving them a hard time and often keeping to ourselves. And if some customer service workers arent really all that lively, they might be having a rough day, so we want to respect that and not make it any worse for them, trying to be polite and understanding of their situation, as they aren't just servants but normal people like everyone else. That's how its been for me and my friends anyway.
13:01 - that's a pretty recent development (started in 2018). The previous ruling party, being in close ties with the catholic church, decided to make Sundays a days where shops are closed. There are a few loopholes, that's why Żabka stores (Polish version of 7/11) can mostly stay open on Sundays. It's still hotly debated.
That's not entirely related to the Catholic church and not that straightforward. Closing shops on Sunday was mostly influenced by the current Solidarność worker union and it was highly approved by the Polish leftists
I'm an atheist but as a cashier I appreciate the no shopping Sundays greatly. It's nice to have the one day a week that's guaranteed to be free and you can spend it however you want. People have gotten used to it and plan their shopping accordingly, besides, small stores are still open on Sundays.
Your point about birth rate is most commonly explained via economy. Young people don't think they can afford kids so they don't have them. Skyrocketing housing costs in major cities are a factor.
As a Pole I think that lack of kids is due to economics and how we were raised up. There is a lot of complexes from people from the '60s that had poor sex education and had first childs between 17-21 years old that felt like they lost something. This message was translated unintentionally to their kids with messages like "focus on studies, do studies, and find good job, build a house etc". The same people are now pushing their grown up kids in their late 30's and early 40's to have kids and fail to understand that they have programmed their kids to skip child birth. On top of that, while PL is developing super fast is also that people don't have wealth as Western countries - but very aspire to be... so, they push kids back on the line as its expensive to raise childs. There are some government programs to increase child birth but it actually raised taxes and inflation as country can't afford this. That also increased polarization between poor and wealth. Most educated people are heavy anti-socialists and capitalists at their core, they have everything from their skilsl and work but are drained by poor and uneducated who are into childs for money and created small "kid farms" suddenly having 4-7 kids. So, currently in Poland there are uneducated socialists with 4+ kids and driving inflation and have little care about their kids, raising them almost like pigs, and people who wants the best possible environment, education, and future for their kids and therefore delaying it until they get to the point where they have great economics and environment to match Western world - many don't succeed or can't have child at this point, or are very old parents because of it, more like grandparents, owning only one. Now, to validate my point watch how this thread grows with likes and dislikes and hate from socialists with their "farms". See how we love to argue and how straight and to the point we are :)
I agree on the economical aspect. I wish I had a kid, but I can barely support myself rn. Getting bigger apartment to have space for kid, all these new expenses..... I simply cannot afford it. I grew up in poverty, I won't serve my child the same fate. No. Fucking. Way
7:30 I would say there is housing crisis in Poland as prices for apartments and houses surged (as well as interest rates) in last couple of years. I can only speak for myself but if I were to live paycheck to paycheck in rental apartment then I would not be thinking about making babies.
Let's be honest. It's not only housing. Prices on everything went up pretty badly. Fuel, food, household chemicals. So, having kids became really expensive. And don't get me started when they go to school - that's another hell to pay, even with theoretically free education.
Let's be honest it's a matter of cultural changes and not the economy. Polish people were never this rich in history as they are now. We can afford things that our parents or grandparents couldn't even dream of under socialism. The society just shifted more towards career making. There are also a lot of journalists pushing the agenda that having kids is only a burden or having a dog is better than having a baby. Many people just don't want kids at all and the economy is just an excuse for them. I hope this mentality will bounce back again or we will end up like South Korea very soon
I do think less people are having kids, but overall the gap is because more woman decide to have kids later in life, whereas not too long ago maybe 10-15 years it was common for woman to have babies in their early 20s, and now its a more conscious, careful decision. We also spend more time on collage and carrier, but at the end most poles want a family.
I'm Polish, traveled a lot, lived inother countries in Europe and I love small talks! I will make small talks and joke with store workers, custom service people, tell compliments to complete stangers at the public transport etc. I always greet people in stores, elevators, his them good day. But maybe it is cos my mom and dad are like this and I learned it my whole life. To be open to people. They always taught me that being polite is the greatest value, costs me nothing but can make a whole day for somebody else.
1 thing which I see many foreigners misunderstand are sundays. Shops being closed on sundays is not a part of polish culture, it's just something that was implemented by the previous political party that was in power, that everyone was kinda forced to live with. To tell you how recent of a change it was. I am 17 at the moment and I remember it being implemented, meaning that it was not only done in my lifetime. It was done well into my concious tginking so around when I was 10 or so
No i jakoś obecna partia tego nie zmienia, znaczy ludzie są zadowoleni. W całej Europie zachodniej sklepy są pozamykane w niedzielę, a czasem i w dni powszednie po południu (sjesta). Tylko najbiedniejsze kraje nie mogą sobie na coś takiego pozwolić.
@@missAlice1990 jeżeli to, że partia tego nie zmienia znaczy, że ludziom się podoba. To używając tej samej logiki ludziom w Europie podoba się problem imigracji
I don't really understand why Poles should be somehow similar to Asians in a cultural sense. For Poles, Asia has always been very exotic, and a culture opposed in many respects (e.g. in terms of individual freedom and individualism, which have been exceptionally strong in Poland for centuries; it is not without reason that Poles were the first in Europe to have a modern constitution). The Mongol invasions, which left such a large mark on the Russians' mentality, failed in Poland, the Mongols lost to the Poles decisively, and they were unable to exert any influence. Poland was in the circle of typical European Western and Latin culture, and in addition, 100 years of occupation of part of Polish territories by Russia did not have a major cultural impact, the differences were too great (in terms of the attitude to personal freedom and the importance of the individual, religion, the accountability of the authorities with her actions, etc.). Even communism in Poland was completely different from in the USSR (not only much more liberal, but also marked by constant social rebellion and lack of fear of authority). So explain to me what you actually meant?
It means that we generally are not extremely loud and obnoxious, we mind our own business, respect personal space and don't engage in weird social shenanigans with strangers unless we really want something from them. Asian nations are similar in that matter, but are often different in terms of attitude to individualism or compliance to authorities
No, it's not really "normal" to split the bill at a restaurant, unless it's with a friend or if your "boyfriend" makes a lot less money than you, but you still love him. Indeed, Polish women are very considerate and most will order moderately priced dishes in the restaurant - it's respectful. Also, women feel a lot more secure about having children when there's financial stability.
Many polish people just have positive feelings towards japan, taiwan and south korea, we also do watch anime and it's way more popular than you would think :D
Yk its actually crazy that i actually learn things sometimes about poland even though I'm polish. I live in the UK but either way I'm suprised I haven't known all of the stuff you talked about. (I'm talking about all your vids in general btw)
when it comes to the birth rates - the only reason is that hardly any family feels financially secure enough for that. there's way too many taxes in this country and many families are bound by mortgages, which are very expensive
It's funny that you were shocked by amount of smokers. In last 20 years percentage of smokers in Poland was reduced by 3 times. That shows how bad it was earlier
I love how they talk about Polish racism. And Poland is one of the safest countries. There was such a lady here in Poland from Japan and she videotaped a man without his permission then the peasant showed her the middle finger. That from the time that in Poland racism.
Small businesses can and often are open on Sundays, especially grocery stores. And this is because of our labor law which was constituted after huge wave of super markets taking advantage of people and forcing them to work 7 days a week.
8:15 Maybe no one would have it "shoved" down their throat if both society and gouverments wouldn't treat us as subhumans but what can I know? Surely half of the Poland had LGBT free zone back in 2020 because they are annoyed with Netflix and not because they hate you if you aren't cishet
About LGBT+ in PL. You don't see it out because of fear of being attacked, not because people don't care about it. I live in Madrid with my partner and we go hand by hand everywhere. Currently we are on vacations in Wrocław and we cannot do that here which is frustrating for my partner. We don't want to be called names on the street. So... right now LGBT+ community in Poland is fighting about that, to not be afraid be yourself in public.
Asians have a reputation in Poland as hard-working people, and these are features that Poles appreciate, from my personal perspective, Asian women are the most beautiful women on the planet and still maintain their femininity, they have fantastic bodies for a long time which, unlike European women, makes them attractive until old age
For the customer service here in Poland it is this because ppl don't like aggressive sales. We go to restaurant or shop to spent a time for othar activities than beeing picked by a sales man. Customer service here was that in the 90' like, sales person approach you, try to sell you some things etc. but ppl just don't like that because it was very fake, and directed just to sell you any crap. Customer service approach had to change, due to customer need (there was a time, when ppl on purpose avoid shops where salesman were all over you, trying to sall you anything)It had to become more calm, and I need to say I love it. When I'm at restaurant I would like to spend some time with my friends, or alone, not chatting with service. I'm not there for them - but for me. It is different, doesn't mean it is worse.
OMG. Instead od having lots of totally false external and very shallow kindness, Polish, people are simply FULLY FAIR most of the time. They either like or dislike something or somebody, and very seldom they LIE about their preferences, wchich is a total domain of US people - who usually bear a FALSE smile on face. Regarding a small talk - first of all somebody MAY NOT WANT TO SMALL TALK to you, so why do you expect everybody to respond? Just leave everybodys FREE WILL to choose whom they will or will not talk to. Also do not use the argument of being lowly social because if you happened to KNOW ANYTHING anout the Polish peoplel, you would be amazed HOW SOCIAL AND FAMILIAR they are. The second thing is - just go to the UK and you will be surprised how UNWANTED a small talk could be ON THE DAILY BASIS. And most of all the Brits have built the USA. So you should first well listen to yourself prior to publishing this silly video. Do not constantly tell that Polish people are great (you repeat it every second sentence) , because the Polish people are not great at all, especially having explained how bad they are, being sad, shut up, non-social, non communicative, quiet, etc. Just on the contrary to the US people they are just REAL, FAIR and ADEQUATE to the situation.
I live in UK (Polish woman) which influenced by American culture a lot and I have ambigious feelings about customer service: if I am in the shop and someone is constantly bothering me with their "how can I help you" I will simply leave; on the other side it is very helpful that people are polite in offices, hotels, on the buses etc
As for lgbt situation. I think that here you are free to love whoever you want, its your buissnes. We do not "celebrate" stuff like this, thats why the west think we are against it🤔 at least I feel this is the problem. We arent buying the ideology. If you keep stuff to yourself its ok and nost people are pretry tolerant. Only change I want now from this field is law about lgb marriages, because I see no argument against it and a disscusion about adopting kids by lgb couples. I'm against it for now but I want dissusion so I could see arguments from every side.
@@ambustio9807 far from that. Maybe you haven't noticed, but we have a liberal government, chosen by the MAJORITY of voters, even though the conservative voters usually have a much better turnout. One of the main reasons why the former one was so hated, was their crusade against the lgbt, to the point that even their own electorate started voting for the less extreme parties. People generally mind their own buiseness, and even if they're "ideologically against it", you're probably gonna get called out if you start being an asshole and offending someone. There are some loud groups that are vocal about being anti lgbt, but the masses who give the conservative parties high scores in the elections, are still made up 70% of older people, 70+, close to the Church etc.
@@leno_o17 and KO is loosing that political support and only reason they won is because they arent PiS not because people actually like them. It goes both ways people dont like others opinion showed in their face Yes people dont care that youre gay but if you go around dressed all im rainbow telling others how progressive and proud you are that counts as someone showing their opinions in peoples face duble that if you insult them while claiming to be superior. In the west narcisism is celebrated while in Poland people rather not deal with people like that also nah there are loud groups of students from the west and LGBT people are the minority I suggest you leave your campus or gated community and talk to majority of people who will not move out in 4 years or tech nomads
California has shallow friendships, however in nyc , for example, we have strong European style multi decade friendships virtually unknown in California. so please speak of "in California" on that topic and not "in the usa" Californians are known throughout the usa and abroad for their "false friendliness" and their shallowness however this is not a usa trait but a out west trait encompassing california as well. R
As a Polish person I do hate customer service, especially in the supermarkets 😅 But, I don't like customer service in e.g. Sephora, where they ask you if you need any help all the fu***ng time. After 4 min. I run. Literally. And if you go to bazaar you need to be very direct and smart and it's better if you send there a woman - my bf very often gets worse vegetables and fruits relying on the seller's help :P We greet each other in the elevators - maybe it depends to the place and the people. No small talk? Yes, but not with the older people - they always ask me about many things, even if I don't know them, they want to talk a little, etc. If you have an older nieghbour there is a high probability he/she would like to know you and have a small talk. And the grandmas would like you to know their granddaughters ;) My neighbours wave me from their windows sometimes. Music - listen to Chopin ;) It's our treasure. LGBT - Polish people don't like to be pushed to do sth, especially against their believes or perspective. So if you're different than they are or have different opinion/lifestyle it's okay (we can dispute, why not) but many ppl don't like to be overwhelmed by concrete agendas or told what to do or what to believe in. Four seasons - I must admit, we work and hibernate in the winter and the late fall. Then we thrive and try to relax a little bit. We also like complaining about the weather. It's said you need to check the forecast to know how you should feel today. "Ciśnienie" (the pressure) is a key word and never can be good. Polish ppl don't like Russians and Germans and their languages (I love German but I'm in 1%) because of the history. I think the younger generation is able to change that a little. That's why Polish ppl learn English and Spanish willingly (now there is a real rise of the number of ppl learning Spanish). Ofc, many things depend on the place you live in. "Polish smile" - hmm, we are more cynical than funny but we like interesting conversations and laughing a lot. But we need to know you - if you're our "ziomek" everything will go smoothly 😅
I met a lot of gays, was friends with most, they're just normal people and open about their sexuality, tho they're mostly friends with woman. Theres even a gay club in Kraków hahahah and Poznań is probably the gayest city in Poland
Once my friend was called a fag on the street in Poznań by some drunk idiot and I was really surprised because of this city reputation. It was just a coward tho because when we responded he walked away very fast
I have been in USA this year (California and Nevada) and aI would say that just about 30% of staff I met was that friendly and smiling as its usually being said. The rest was normally busy and not chatting and not smiling. It also wasn't due to my Polish smile😅 cause i spend few years abroad so i know how to make polite smile in public 😊
There's a few things to do in LGBT area in Poland. We have no legal partnerships, (not to mention about marriages...). We have still a big influence of the church which is against it along with its followers (and potential voters in elections). The reasom why you see more lesbians than gays is the fact the girls won't be attacked and harassed just because they are girls. Two guys showing affection to each other (no matter if they are straight or gay) are much more unacceptable. All the antipathy towards LGBT is usually more concentrated on gays than lesbians.
I disagree with smoking though. It's still an issue, but basically there is ban to smoke in pubs, bars, restaurants, bus stops, hotels, kids playgrounds and any public places, except for places that are explicitly marked as smoking areas. I only faced this problem in Tri-city where nearly everyone was smoking on the street that it was hard to breathe with fresh air. It also becomes more and more unpopular and unwanted because we have a very strong trend to clean eating, clean living, and in general healthy lifestyle.
Hey, thank you for the video and your insights. The fact that shops are closed on Sundays is something relatively new, and it was introduced by the party that, thankfully, is no longer ruling here in Poland. Interestingly, shops are also closed on Sundays in Germany, by the way. Hopefully, this will change in Poland soon, as we now have a less conservative government. Another thing to note: Polish people are generally divided into two broad groups-conservatives and liberals. So, what you mentioned about Poles applies more to the conservative side. The entire country isn't like that, though. But isn't it the same in the US compare California to Texas or even Illinois. Completely different mentalities.
unless its a cute small child😂 we smile to give them assurance of safety and feeling welcome so they can grow in positive environment or pets, we give them warm smiles as well for free, cause they are either cute or funny
In my opinion polish people are really friendly to people from the other countries, but under 2 conditions 1) You have to respect our culture, this is our country and we don't want to change, we respect you and your traditions but we will not change our, have a work, know the easiest polish words, we know that learn our language is really hard 2) you have to make a first step - anyone say first come to us, how are you etc. but if you make this little step, show that you want to learn sth about Poland or you ask about sth I think that a lot of people here will do a lot for you - for example in the dorm was a person from Georgia and one day at the evening he asked us about polish cuisine and the next week we made him a polish traditional dinner, but if he will not ask - anyone will carry about him
@@WheresWes Poland is as Western as the US. For over a thousand years, Poland has been a Catholic country heavily influenced by the Catholic Church. Poles studied at Western universities, and during our golden age, Westerners came to study at our universities. Polish kings shared blood with Western royal families, and Polish culture was shaped by the same mechanisms as any other Western country. The only period when Poland was forcibly disconnected from the West was during the Soviet occupation from 1945 to 1989. Saying that we are not a Western country because of 44 years out of our more than 1000-year history shows ignorance. Moreover, arguing that Poland is not Western because our culture is more conservative is far from true. The US is as religious and conservative as Poland (there are plenty of statistics to support this), and even in Europe, there are conservative Western countries like Portugal and Italy. It's especially annoying to us because saying we're not "Western" is like discarding 99% of our history just because we were poor and occupied by the Soviets, making us not "cool" enough to be associated with you. Finally, Poland is not heading in a "western" direction because Poland is part of what defines the West. Read at least a Wikipedia article on this topic.
@@WheresWes Here's the thing, most Poles consider Poland a fully "Western" country. Saying otherwise can make some people feel offended. For them, you're implying that Poland is an "Eastern" country.
@@WheresWesa co w usa jest zachodniego narkomania seryjni mordercy bród smród ciągle wojny na niewinne kraje wymordowanie Indian lizanie dupy Żydom człowieku zanim zaczniesz coś pisać zacznij myśleć głową
@@WheresWes No country is Western like the US, only US is Western like the US. Italy is Western like Italy, Germany is Western like Germany, Finland is Western like Finland, and Poland is Western like Poland. Poland was never culturally Eastern, it's just in people's heads that because there was Soviet Union once and it closed the iron curtain for 45 years for many countries, all those countries somehow magically become Eastern forever. And we don't heading towards the direction of the US: we don't want US car, gun, celebrity or materialism culture, if that's what some may consider 'western' (but in fact is just American).
Personally as a Pole I prefer American customer service, I'm sorry but when I'm in a shop or restaurant I'm not there to deal with rude or blunt interactions with random workers, I don't care if it fake or not, I just want to enjoy my day without having to deal with others not being in control of their emotions. And I'm saying this as someone who worked in customer service
About winter depression: much of it is just deficiency of Vitamin D - you've lived in sunny places all your life, so I'd guess this is how your body could have reacted to it. If you're planning to spend a bit more here, make sure to start take Vitamin D pills starting October. Hopefully, you'll see a lot of difference (:
It’s kind of funny that as a Pole living in the US/LA I only agree with the first half of your observation. Absolutely Poles will be distant at first but as they get to know you they will open up and become friendly(to a point where they will feed you and give money if you need it the second time they see you). Americans are very friendly at first (hence a lot of small talk), very easy to talk to talk but it feels almost meaningless and superficial. It takes years to build a true friendship with Americans to drop their guard and to open up. Poles are racist in general as the country is so homogenous but at the same time as they get to know you and if you try to learn Polish they will treat you as our own. Warsaw is way more fun than Krakow (and definitely more Asian products to can buy if you know where to go).
@@Derayes There's a difference between keeping a straight face and an unfriendly frown. Why sway to the other end of the spectrum? Polite service is also about attentiveness, professionalism and discretion. It's not set in stone that we should all slavishly copy all things American.
7:00 - it's not at all surprising if you dig deeper into the subject. Most young people don't have the financial stability to raise children. It's easy to just make babies and then live in poverty, but most people want to secure better living conditions for their children. And unfortunately due to abortion law many women just fear getting pregnant in case something goes wrong and she has to go through horror in a hospital...
Do not exaggerate these "numerous invasions" and "hundreds of years" when Poland was erased from the map. It was only 123 really difficult years plus World War II. And the history of Poland, as a state, is over 1000 years old. For most of this time, what Poland met was similar to what other countries met in Europe. And family values result from a mentality shaped over 1000 years ago plus the influence of Catholicism. Norman Davies described it well in his historical books about Poland.
Smoking is a big problem in Poland. Now I’m working in a hospital in thoracic surgery clinic and most of a patients are older people with loungs cancers who were smokers or their partner was. Now people are turning away from conventional cigarettes to tabacco heaters or vapes and it’s not good either. On the other hand my professors from university who are doctors are smoking too. To the collegium anatomicum you are entering through smoke curtain.
I one of your vids you said you would like to have deep conversations with your gf/wife. Then I'd say a Polish woman is ideal for you. She would apprreciate you for who you are but then you would have to reciprocate. My advice: don't shy away from our language. You already speak two Indoeuropean languages (English and Spanish), it would be your third hence it would be a lot easier. We have numerous borrowings from Latin, which you would pick up instantly. In fact, the difficulty of Polish is overrated. It may seem hard at the beginning, but then it starts to make a lot of sense and becomes much easier, especially for a gifted individual like you. I wish you a lot of good luck in our country 🙂
odnośnie takiej polskiej powściągliwości względem do nowych czy obcych osób to kiedyś wyczytałam w jakiejś naukowej historycznej książce, że na nas Polaków wypływa to z naszej historii, konkretnie z okresów kiedy Polska była pod zaborami, nasza kultura i Polskość była rugowana, Polacy w jakiejś części byli zaangażowani w działania konspiracyjne by odzyskać swe państwo i musieli być bardzo ostrożni co i do kogo mówią w nie wpaść w tarapaty by zwyczajnie przeżyć, natomiast gdy już wiedzieli, że są bezpieczni czy z danej osoby nie grozi im niebezpieczeństwo otwierali się, wiesz długo nad tym myślałam i doszłam do wniosku, że to chyba jest prawdą- piszę to bo często nie zdajemy sobie nawet sprawy z tego jak przeszłość wpływa na charaktery i obecne społeczeństwo, wielu nie rozumie naszych zachowań jak nie zna naszej historii,
As a 29 year old Pole I think I can explain some of those things from mine perspective... also as Im stoping and counting the things you say its show they are technicly more then 8 things that shock you but thats detail xD 1. Customer Servie- Its true we had bad but I think it comes from our social culture. Because we are cold to the strangers we want to just do the thing and be gone. But when some customer is just starts nagging us are get angry because we dont want to have anything with anoying person 2. Closed Social Culture- This is the reason why Customer Service it is what it is. On other hand because of that we can be very tolerant becasue many of us got mentality "Not mine circus, not mine monkeys" and we usualy try understand other people but also if we fell that someone naggs us we get angry and just that person to go away. We also got strick circle of trust. If you are in it you bet many people in it will even fight in your defence but if you are not in it then dont expect us to so much. 3. Direct- For us it easy. We dont like wasting our and others time and we also dont like playing around. Simple example is me and mine brother. We live together and share task around the house. Because of that one day I just go to him and simply ask "Can you do me a favor? I just mowed the yard 2 times in the row and now its going to be 3rd. Can you do that this time?". He said he will do if he can because on tommorow he must start packing and drive to the job and he wont be in home for 2 weeks. Unfrotuntley the next day there was a strom so he could not do it but because of that we now got unwriten agreement that next mowing the yard is on him. 4. Frugal- I think this comes from our past and how we were learned. As you may know after WW2 Poland was under Soviet ocupation and lets just say during that time everything was high price or on low supply. We didnt get top products, we just were happy that we got the basic need becasue we know how it is to dont have much. Because of that even after PPR our families got this mentality that we just happy we got things. Because of that when we go to the dinner with someone we dont go crazy even when the other person says "Its on me" we dont want to exploit this act of kindness but show appreciation and respect to it. 5. Relationship Oriented- I think this part is mix of Closed Social Culture and Frugal points. 6. Family Values- Once again Closed Social but also most of us love our family and care for every member of it because we know when the times are hard or friends abandon you... Family stays. Even on this moment mine mind goes if someone of mine family just visit without saying I would be just happy, hug them and ask if they are hungry or the want something to drink. This is maybe also come from our tradicional/culture/religion values. 7. LGBT- I think the absence of this is because of mentality "Not mine circus, not mine monkeys" that I said before. You do what you want to do but be respectfull about it. If someone will start shouting what they are we are see that person as anoying one and as "special snowflake". I know that Poland is very tradicional and most of people here see LGBT as anomaly or a sin but if you dont rub this into our face we just dont care of your sexuality, but if you do rub it... get ready to get punched. 8. Music- This may be the only thing I just cant explain. Maybe thats just our preferences. 9. Weather- On that I can agree its drastic and we just reacting with the weather. if it rains most of us are sleepy, when we're cold we dont like to move and if we have to we are angry, when its warm we are felling awakened and full of energy. I think most of Poles are just sensitive to the weather. 10. Vodka and Cigarets- Its true its a very social thing. During soviet times those things were very exclusive so we usualy tried to share this tipe of luxuary with others. I know this even with the fact I dont smoke and I drink only one glass of wine on the weddings. Maybe those items also help most of Poles just relax and set lose and just enjoy the moment and company. 11. Asian Treatment- I think this is maybe have his roots even from medival times. Those were times where Poland was maybe one of the most diverced kingdoms. Even some of the tribes that attacked us... some of them stayed like for example Tatars or Mongols. We dont mind diffrent cultures or nationalits, sometimes I think we are even ciurius about them.
i like that people are making fun of our complaining not knowing it drives our nation - like.. its really shitty stairs there.. makes someone rebuild it and make it better for everyone
Did I hear that correctly? I quote... "Americans are open as people." 😂 That was funny considering that they are mostly pretending. In Poland, smiles are sincere. We don't pretend behind a mask of an artificial smile that everything is great. We smile when we know that something is good. :)
Polish customer service is one of the worst, it has nothing to do with hospitality.I travelled to many countries and this is my honest opinion even if its not what many people expect
About LG's. It's not like we are against it as a whole but problem are politicians and activists who trying to enforce things like "man can be pregnant" (it's not a joke). So it's not a suprise we just make distance from this thema. For me personally until they keep it in their own bed, not trying to enforce their opinion on me and are far from children (for example adopting) then literally who cares they are gay, bi, lesbian, green, pink or helicopter apatch.
Curious about the cultural similarities between Poles and Asians. Mongols didn’t succeed in conquering Poles. Whenever Russia does something that upsets the West the Anglos go full racist and characterize white as snow Russians as “Asiastic”. I thought Poland considers itself western plus it’s a catholic state
Poles generally consider themselves (along with the Baltics and Ukraine) as the eastern boundaries of 'West'. People further east (i.e. Russia) are the 'barbarians '. Poland post WWII is the most homogeneous that it's ever been. That plus 'religious processions ' being the only legal way to demonstrate against the communist government is why Roman Catholicism was so prevalent in Poland. Previously Poland was one of the most diverse countries in Europe with plenty of Protestants, Orthodox, Muslims, & Jews living in comparative harmony. Fun fact: There is/was a Polish mosque in Brooklyn, NY.
Thanks for sharing ak. Odd how Poles earmark Ukraine as being apart of the West. Given how Ukrainians have the same father civilization as the Russian Empire. Along with the handiwork of Stefan Bandera. Always thought Ukrainians are genetically and culturally Rus’ regardless of what the West claims
@@LeadLeftLeon That's the point. Today's russia was a savage country paying tributes to Mongols when today's Ukraine was influenced by Polish and Lithuanians. For example: until moscovians took over the part of Ukraine with an important city of Chernihiv after the treaty of Pereyaslav, they had not even one scientific centre. No academy, university - nothing. Genetics have nothing to do because Ukrainians since the emergence of their national identity knew that leaning to East means slavery and subjection to feudal tsardom. While they have some grugdes with Poland from the times of their struggles for independence they were always more or less leaning westward, despite being Rus ethnicity and orthodox faith. Russia have other values than imperialism
@@ak5659 Before the war position of church among common people wasn't that strong. For centuries it was the local nobles and elite that dictates and priests were lower in the social hierarchy. Communism removed the upper class and church filled the void and with few exeption get along with communists pretty well until 70s. In the most of vicinities parish priest and Party secretaty were more or less chummies. Being an open opposition is a relatively late case.
@@LeadLeftLeonPoles also have the same father civilization because we were all Slavs, before the east/west/south Slavs division happened. Rus fell apart in the 13th century and since then different parts were evolving in a very different way. ukraine and Belarus were under the influence of Poland -Lithuania, so by proxy also "the West", while what later became Russia was under the influence of the Mongols. When Muscovy emerged a few centuries later, and started conquering the old Rus territories, it was a completely different entity from the part belonging to Poland-Lithuania, with different language and culture. For Poles Russia also feels "asiatic" whenever it does something stupid, because it feels so unnatural for us and so similar to what the Mongols were like.
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8:00 polish people are not against gays, but against LGBTQ agenda/propaganda and this is big diffirence.
You need a correct attitude for Autumn and Winter. We call it "jesieniarstwo" (od jesień = autumn). These seasons are more for you to keep to yourself, at home, with fluffy blankets and pillows, a hot beverage and a book or some films...
You made a video earlier claiming Poles favour social order over individual rights, so similar to Asia. That's not entirely true. Poland was the only country outside of Great Britain to have individual protections for people - laws similar to Habeas Corpus and later Constitution of 3rd May were passed. Poland enjoyed the largest number of voters in the world in past centuries, more than in the UK and before the US was created. Poles had LIBERO VETUM where one MP could scuttle a whole law initiative when he vetoed it. That comes from Polish individualism and liberty. That was tempered somewhat by communism but even so that's still in our traditions and we refer back to our traditions. So Poland is not like autocratic countries eg Prussia or Holy Roman Empire or Russia but is more like the United States. Google people like Tadeusz Kosciuszko and Pulaski. Now Poles do have the continental law system and much of that is Napoleonic and we have had communism where you know it was more collectivist and "Comrade Mr this" or "comrade doctor that" but we are proud of our liberal traditions. Did you know that when WW1 ended Poland gave women the vote? France did not, because women were too conservative. Did you know Poland made homosexuality legal in the 1920s, while in the UK and US it was punishable by jail?
American style costumer service is cruelty against humans. Workers are expected to act like clowns, while poorly paid and overworked. There were attempts to force American style of service in specific franchises. But either employees left the jobs or ironically most costumers also consider it as annoying. They usually expect from cashier to do his job fast and not delay service with ridiculous chit chat. But yeh, someone used to American slaves, would be surprised by how things are done here.
@@TheRezro No. Good customer service is important. The service in many stores in Europe is rude. Polish service used to be terrible where they would curse you out in the 80s but it's still not the best service. They take a tea break and tell you to sod off. Yes PLUS cell phone outlets in PL do that. Good customer service isn't about ki11sing a$$ but about being courteous and efficient.
The politeness of service in shops and restaurants in the US is simply artificial. Forced cheerfulness, smiles and servility. It's like interacting with a robot
I think people should really learn to just call things "different" and not "bad" when they don't meet their expectations. Saying the service is bad means that it should aspire to some other standard. And that's just wrong. We just have different standards. Things that Wes describes- having employees harass you or feeling like they're there to "serve" you , sounds like an absolute nightmare. Same with the social culture- people minding their own business isn't being rude or closed off- respecting someone's personal space is a sign of good manners. Being all over someone, being loud and getting too close to someone would be considered disrespectful.
@@leno_o17well said 👍
But on the other side the level of customer service has worsened dramatically in Poland recent years. Its more often like PRL level.
@@Derayes bo wchodzi na rynek pracy debilne pokolenie.
@@Derayes "PRL level"? Don't make me laugh.
I think sexuality in Poland is your business, just like your faith. You do you, you don’t need to yell about it at ppl
Yesss finally someone gets it
Yes
I wish it was true
You are wrong, in Poland faith is very important and present in common space.
@@r.wagner5409 these two statments are not mutually excusive ya know
Asians are perceived by (most) Poles as hard-working and success-oriented people. This is something that is appreciated and respected in Poland (in most cases).
Of course. Work hard, pay taxes and respect our culture. Simple.
Only people who brings their own shit and trying to implement, having problem in Poland.
@@flashlightbeam3487 agree
You don't understand that Poles are very honest and show and say what they actually think and feel. It's not a fake show like in American society. When a Pole gets angry, he shows anger, when he likes you, you feel that it really is. The smile is sincere, not fake, painted on the face for social correctness.
Why do ppl in customer service think their feelings (especially those not easy ones like anger or frustration) it's something that should be shown in the workplace? Your work is a place only for professional behaviour.
@@althenescarabae2615 because why not? They are still people not machines that will take anything from anyone
@@althenescarabae2615they're professional about being real. No wonder someone is tired talking to a stupid customer and they express it cause we fought for freedom that others took away from us
@@althenescarabae2615 Because we're not robots. I'm not going to yell at my client, but I'm definitely going to tell them that what they're doing is not right.
I know what both of you trying to say i mean when client before piss you off you should not take it out on the next person, and suprisingly if you stay calm for this few first second most of the time other person will calm down (from my expierience) but if someone yell at me for something is out of my control as simple worker? Well they will got it right back! And believe the thing people can say to your face is insane. So, respect yourself people you are not a slave.
In shops I want to be alone and look on product and have time to think if I want to buy it or not.
I feel unconfortable if strangers are to friendly and push themself on me too much.
So this is not bad for me.
Same
This is exactly why our customer service is just like it is. None of the "American style customer service" companies were successful here and eventually found out that harassing people when they are shopping will not make you sell more stuff.
Ekspedient w Polsce nie powinien pytać: "W czym mogę pomóc?", bo to jest niegrzeczne; sugeruje, że klient sobie nie radzi.
Uprzejma forma brzmi: "Czym mogę służyć?"
@@rustybronco2957 Służyć to może sługa, pracownik jest równorzędnym człowiekiem względem klienta. Pomoc natomiast nie jest uwłaczająca ponieważ nikt nie jest wszechwiedzący i może nie odnajdywać się w aktualnym środowisku dlatego pytanie "W czym mogę pomóc" jest jak najbardziej na miejscu i nie spotkałem się z sytuacją żeby ktokolwiek był takim pytaniem urażony.
Mylisz się zasadniczo; ekspedient jest DO USŁUG klienta!
You missed polish way to small talk
-How are you?
-Bad. My dog died, and my father has cancer.
-Thats bad. My mom had cancer too, and she died.
...
Its like typical conversation in Poland.
Once I asked Old friend from elementry school "how are you" and got this type of anserw
@@agj2363 its always this type of anwser 😅
And? If those cases you mentioned are real what should we talk about instead? Fine- fine and so on?
@@Derayes well I was not prepair but, Just let him let it go with his problems, listen to him, said that I am sorry. This type of behavior, cause I am Polish girl I was not like "everything will be ok" mood cause it could be even taken offensive. I trully was sad about this whole situation. I did not to pretend to act concern.
@@agj2363actually I was commenting the insert above, not yours! You acted properly.
American politeness in services? Try not to give a tip. I'ts blowing my mind to pay obligatory more than the fixed price. I usually give tips in PL, but it's up to me.
And we will be happy even with the 1$ tip cuz the tips are not obligatory
Tips are absurd in most cases: if I order from card, not ask any more question to waiter etc., why would someone receive a tip if he did his most basic duty? I don't get tips/bonuses in my job and neither does any of my colleagues of friends, so why would I give bonus to someone who doesn't do anything extraordinary?
AFAIK, in US there are two different minimal wages - one the regular and the other (much lower) for jobs with tipping. Most waiters earn this lower minimum wage and by itself it's not enough to survive, pay the bills etc. - they are actually depending on these tips to be a significant part of their income. That's why in US you are always expected to give a tip and that's why waiters are incentivized to fake happiness and politeness . It's pretty f***ed up system if you think about it.
@@psow4062 Here in PL you can't get paid less than minimal wage, my friend was working in the kebab delivery once and he got like half the daily pay extra in tips once
@@psow4062 I believe main idea was to convince people that they are working for scraps, but they will not need to pay taxes from tips so this is a good deal for them. Well it's not.
Haha, I knew the "Polish smile" would come up. It's definitely real.
Poles know how to laugh and smile, but they do it with people they know. I see no reason to smile falsely at strangers and I don't like it when people do it to me. Many Poles consider this type of behavior abnormal. Fake smiles and behaviors are the best way to fool people. In life we should be reserved and distrustful of strangers. Either way, the lack of smiles among Poles is not due to sadness.
Honestly, I never paid attention to this type of thing. Until I heard about it. Foreigners have interesting observations, but wrong ones. Poles are very smiling and joyful people. It all depends on the situation and relationship with the person. ;)
Why smile without a reason. It's a waste of energy. Energy should be saved for surviving winters and invasions
@@Kaze_PLwhy on earth do you think a smile is faked or false? How do you know that? Only because a stranger smiles at you?
@@leno_o17I hope you are joking.
@@Derayes ofc I'm joking. I'm Polish, we're sarcastic to the core. But there is this thing, that people in this part of the world don't smile without a reason. We just work differently I guess. For us, neutral face is a natural expression. So the normal look on the Polish face is this: 😐
I am a 25-year-old woman, Polish with a fiancé, a ring on my finger and in two years we will get married and have our own family apartment. We dream of two children. And he is studying accounting. This is a dream life and although I had teenage madness in my head, every person should grow up sometime. The culture of sex seems to be so empty and unpleasant for us. My chosen one is now my best friend and best partner. We believe that successful communication, nurturing the relationship and feeling are the key to success. I think that many Polish women will agree with me.
And monogamy is a kind of commitment to oneself. Promises of fidelity as an art of trust, love and honesty.
Come on, in Poland we have great customer service! As long as customers do not annoy the service. Karens will not be tolerated :)
Arki won't be tolerated either ...
Karynas ;)
In the same time customer servuce in żabka... I dont have good experience;-;
@@Derayes "Karyna" i "Karen" to zupełnie różne archetypy postaci.
@@Derayes bardziej Grażyna
There's Russian proverb, most Poles would agree on:
Fast friendships tend to turn into hostility.
Polacy nie maja w kodzie kulturowym uśmiechania się jak głupi do sera. Po prostu jak widzisz uśmiech naszej twarzy wiesz że jest szczery. Jeśli go nie ma - to tez nie jest źle, po prostu traktujemy cię neutralnie i uprzejmie.
Często widujesz ów uśmiech? Bo ja najczęściej widzę bawole spojrzenie spode łba. A uśmiech nie musi oznaczac głupoty ani fałszu tylko przyjazne nastawienie. Owo bawole spojrzenie upodabnia nas do ludów zza wschodniej granicy ew Bliskiego Wschodu.
@@Derayes Uprzedzenie, może wynikające z miejsca, w którym mieszkasz. Ja mam takie doświadzenie -przez blisko 30 lat zapierdlalało się żeby dzieci zyły lepiej. Napędzały nas kompleksy wobec ościennych państw, nawet Ukrainy o Węgrzech juz nie wspommnę. Coś się udało. Ale usmiech był na imprezach wśród znajomych i bliskich osób a nie na ulicy. Może zaczniemy się uśmiechac jak głupi do sera.
@@jankowalski3220 jakie znowu uprzedzenie ? Ja jestem stary Warszawiak i miejsce zamieszkania tego nie zmieni. Kompleksy wobec Ukrainy? O czym Ty piszesz czlowieku??? i co Ty z tym serem? Chodzi o normalny uprzejmy usmiech zamiast wiecznie bawolej gęby.
@@Derayes Nic nie pisałem o kompleksach wobec Ukrainy dzisuejszej. O tej z końcówki lat 80-tych owszem. Wyszliśmy z PRL z goła dupą. Pisałem też o kompleksach wobec "napływowych". Kompleks wyższości to tez kompleks. Czytaj a potem odpisuj jak masz ochoę.
@@jankowalski3220 Ukraina w latach 80 to był jeden z najbogatszych i najlepiej rozwiniętych regionów zsrr. Centrum przemysłowe, gdzie powstawały okręty podwodne z tytanu, reaktory jądrowe, rakiety i satelity kosmiczne, glowice pocisków międzykontynentalnych i wiele wiele innych wysokich technologii. W latach 80 i na początku 90 Ukraina była bogatsza od Polski, później to się całkowicie rozjechało, Ukraina straciła swój rozwinięty przemysł w dużej mierze.
After watching a few videos, I had to subscribe. Since I was a kid in elementary school in Germany, Polish people have been around me. They even build homes for immigrants coming from Poland in the 80s where I grew up. My teacher sat a kid from Poland next to me so he could learn the language. We spend school breaks together. did the homework together and even spend our free time with others. Within a year he was able to speak the language. Not just because of me but he was fully integrated in the normal life. Since then I can say, Polish people are very dear to me and I spend my last 2 summer vacations (2022 & 2023) in Poland at the Baltic Sea. Not only is the beach beautiful, but the people are as well. In my opinion Polish people get a bad rep because once you get to know them, they are great company. The Polish people I've came across do not have that "Polish" smile 😀 Keep up the good work!
I will share with you an observation: during my stay in the United States, I often felt embarrassed in stores and restaurants, because the service, according to the standards I knew, was not so much very polite, but even degraded in servility. I don't know - maybe the boss was watching, and due to the lack of a civilized legal Labor Code in America, they could have been fired overnight, or maybe they thought they would get bigger tips? It was very sad and many of my friends from other European countries shared my view.
As for the low birth rate in Poland, there are many theories and speculations and many "wise men" who think they know the answer. The diagram you showed shows that since the 1960s, maybe apart from the 1980s, the birth rate has been gradually decreasing in Poland. You are probably right in saying that with the change of the political system and the emergence of the free market after 1989, people began to have professional priorities related to career, earning money, etc., which resulted in a decline in interest in starting a family early, and, moreover, Polish women began to give birth later than in times of communism. But the situation is complex and there is no single explanation. There are many factors contributing to this state of affairs. For example, the situation on the housing market, not so easy availability (at least for many years) of housing loans, insufficient social care in the form of widely available nurseries and kindergartens, lack of trust in successive governments that promised something and then withdrew from these social promises , or implemented them only partially, the level of average wages in relation to living expenses - and finally, in the last four years: first the pandemic, and then the war in Ukraine. So there is a lot of fear, and when people are afraid, they tend not to think about having children.
There are reasons why Polish people are not so open to people they don't know. We were invaded by other countries longer than the USA exists. Being distrustful to someone you don't know seems to be the aftermath of totalitarian regimes trying to overrule Poles. But as long as you get into the inner circle, you can experience how faithful Polish friendship can be.
There is one more thing, a small one but it kinda surprised me when i was growing up. Westerners usually uses emotes, while typing "XD" feels childish for them. In central and eastern europe emotes are labeled mostly for children and boomers to be honest XD 90% of young people there finds using "XD" to be more natural than using emotes, as long as you are typing with someone your age
Crying emojis are considered ultra cringe in polish meme culture. They look like balloons in eyes instead of laughter
Imagine using emojis xdddd
Xxdxdxdxxx
i nly use skull emojis that’s all XD
We;re not frugal, we just can't afford very expensive things. Foreigners say it's so cheap here, it is for you, not for us living here everyday. Flats and houses in Poland are currently the most expensive in Europe.
While also having one of the worst wages in Europe. Also foreign banks are exploiting poles as the rates for mortgages and fees are usually over 10x higher than in Europe. Great example is BNP, where in France a mortgage for 300k euro home comes to a total of 370-380k and in Poland mortgage for 500k PLN flat costs around 950k. So not even 1/4 cost vs almost double.
You are probably just broke or can't manage your finances. I currently work at a dead end minimal wage job and I absolutely can afford buying clothes or electronics for a few thousand dollars to show off. I just choose not to because I think it's lame and stupid. If you rent a flat in Warsaw, Kraków or Wrocław and live there alone then maybe stop being delusional and find something more affordable. A family where both parents work will have no problem renting a flat even in Warsaw. It's always broke ass students who complain
I am a Pole and I love the way Polish people are like.I smile when I feel like ,not because it's "good to do that".I do not care if other people like it or not- that's none of my business.We also speak our mind- if you can't bear it- do not talk to us
I've heard an opinion that Americans are very polite to each other because of easy access to guns ;)
That's how some are trying to justify easy access to guns, they say "armed society is a polite society".
"Polish smile" is pretty much same as "Finnish smile" or scandinavian. I have a feeling that for some reason it's only us taking beating for that fact.
A ja uważam że my się więcej uśmiechamy niż Skandynawia.
@@katarzynakoataj1052 ja tak samo, tzn
Ja.się w ogóle nie uśmiecham, pozdr😉
@@katarzynakoataj1052 W Szwecji wydawało mi sie, ze Szwedzi uśmiechają sie do siebie znacznie częściej, czasem sztucznie. A Finowie zrobili na mnie wrażenie dużo cichszych i spokojniejszych niż Polacy, ale jeśli chodzi o "uśmiech społeczny" - są bardzo podobni :). Sa tez tak samo jak my bezpośredni w reakcjach, a zarazem respektują cudzą przestrzeń i respektują, tak jak Polacy, podstawowe dobre maniery, w przeciwieństwie do Szwedów, którym wyłazi czasem wręcz komicznie słoma z butów i nawet sobie z tego nie zdają sprawy... Finowie są też podobnie gościnni i pomocni wobec innych jak Polacy.
In actually, this "everything is close in Sunday" thing is quite new even for polish ppl, as it was by the law change from few years ago. And there is still a debate to bring back shopping on Sundays.
It can be frustrating sometimes for sure
@@WheresWes I live in Krakow and it's really not a problem. Smaller supermarkets and bakeries are open on Sundays. I never go to big shopping mals so it makes no difference to me
Sunday is a rest day, family day- not shopping day.
Family shops are open when they want.
@@WheresWesthat's cause sunday is family rest day. You should give all your time for family or rest. Most people do shopping and also clean up their house in saturday.
im hetero polish girl in her twenties, and most people my age are like "whatever" about lgbt, i have many lgbt friends just because they are cool to hang around with and thats all, it doesnt matter to me what sex do they prefer and its pretty common perspective from what ive experienced in my daily life
there are extreme sides of the same coin tho
and yes we all hate life during winter, youre not mistaken
Yeah, there are lots of lgbt ppl especially in bigger cities, we just like to treat ppl according to who they are and not who they’re into, so they might not be a community as “visible” as in other countries. I like that polish society is overall much less homophobic than it was let’s say 10-15 years ago
In the west there are still many homophobes like in Poland. They are just hiding behind their keyboards and have no balls to tell people irl what they really think or they are just muslim and homophobic by default. We just don't have same sex marriages or some silly anti speech laws against LGBT (unfortunately we have them in other matters tho), and that's why Poland is last in all these rankings. A gay couple holding hands in a Polish city is probably safer than in western Europe with so many deeply homophobic muslims
I think there is a different situation in Warsaw, where you can find large Vietnamese and Chinese diaspora. I grew up in Warsaw, so in my high school were at least 3-4 Asians mostly vietnamese origins (but born in Poland), I also had a friend from Mongolia. So for me Asian people weren't strangers, they were friends. After I moved to Kraków I realised that except tourists there are not many Asians as i thought before. You should go to Warsaw and discover Asian enclaves :)
When it coms to the customer service, speaking as a Pole, I believe we often just acknowledge that the workers are just there doing their job and that they are doing this to get paid, so we as customers try to respect that by not giving them a hard time and often keeping to ourselves. And if some customer service workers arent really all that lively, they might be having a rough day, so we want to respect that and not make it any worse for them, trying to be polite and understanding of their situation, as they aren't just servants but normal people like everyone else. That's how its been for me and my friends anyway.
13:01 - that's a pretty recent development (started in 2018). The previous ruling party, being in close ties with the catholic church, decided to make Sundays a days where shops are closed. There are a few loopholes, that's why Żabka stores (Polish version of 7/11) can mostly stay open on Sundays. It's still hotly debated.
Yeah but that's because Rydzyk has got his fingers in Żabka lol
@@Maggie-xu4qndont put your foolish comments here!
If you are atheist then just go to some park and takę a walk instead for shopping on Sundays!!
That's not entirely related to the Catholic church and not that straightforward. Closing shops on Sunday was mostly influenced by the current Solidarność worker union and it was highly approved by the Polish leftists
I'm an atheist but as a cashier I appreciate the no shopping Sundays greatly. It's nice to have the one day a week that's guaranteed to be free and you can spend it however you want. People have gotten used to it and plan their shopping accordingly, besides, small stores are still open on Sundays.
Your point about birth rate is most commonly explained via economy. Young people don't think they can afford kids so they don't have them. Skyrocketing housing costs in major cities are a factor.
As a Pole I think that lack of kids is due to economics and how we were raised up. There is a lot of complexes from people from the '60s that had poor sex education and had first childs between 17-21 years old that felt like they lost something. This message was translated unintentionally to their kids with messages like "focus on studies, do studies, and find good job, build a house etc". The same people are now pushing their grown up kids in their late 30's and early 40's to have kids and fail to understand that they have programmed their kids to skip child birth.
On top of that, while PL is developing super fast is also that people don't have wealth as Western countries - but very aspire to be... so, they push kids back on the line as its expensive to raise childs.
There are some government programs to increase child birth but it actually raised taxes and inflation as country can't afford this. That also increased polarization between poor and wealth. Most educated people are heavy anti-socialists and capitalists at their core, they have everything from their skilsl and work but are drained by poor and uneducated who are into childs for money and created small "kid farms" suddenly having 4-7 kids.
So, currently in Poland there are uneducated socialists with 4+ kids and driving inflation and have little care about their kids, raising them almost like pigs, and people who wants the best possible environment, education, and future for their kids and therefore delaying it until they get to the point where they have great economics and environment to match Western world - many don't succeed or can't have child at this point, or are very old parents because of it, more like grandparents, owning only one.
Now, to validate my point watch how this thread grows with likes and dislikes and hate from socialists with their "farms". See how we love to argue and how straight and to the point we are :)
Fr
How long did it take you to write that😧
1-2 minutes cheers
@@bacon876 He's an educated one, should not take him half a day.
I agree on the economical aspect. I wish I had a kid, but I can barely support myself rn. Getting bigger apartment to have space for kid, all these new expenses..... I simply cannot afford it. I grew up in poverty, I won't serve my child the same fate. No. Fucking. Way
7:30 I would say there is housing crisis in Poland as prices for apartments and houses surged (as well as interest rates) in last couple of years. I can only speak for myself but if I were to live paycheck to paycheck in rental apartment then I would not be thinking about making babies.
Let's be honest. It's not only housing. Prices on everything went up pretty badly. Fuel, food, household chemicals. So, having kids became really expensive. And don't get me started when they go to school - that's another hell to pay, even with theoretically free education.
Let's be honest it's a matter of cultural changes and not the economy. Polish people were never this rich in history as they are now. We can afford things that our parents or grandparents couldn't even dream of under socialism. The society just shifted more towards career making. There are also a lot of journalists pushing the agenda that having kids is only a burden or having a dog is better than having a baby. Many people just don't want kids at all and the economy is just an excuse for them. I hope this mentality will bounce back again or we will end up like South Korea very soon
I do think less people are having kids, but overall the gap is because more woman decide to have kids later in life, whereas not too long ago maybe 10-15 years it was common for woman to have babies in their early 20s, and now its a more conscious, careful decision. We also spend more time on collage and carrier, but at the end most poles want a family.
I'm Polish, traveled a lot, lived inother countries in Europe and I love small talks! I will make small talks and joke with store workers, custom service people, tell compliments to complete stangers at the public transport etc. I always greet people in stores, elevators, his them good day. But maybe it is cos my mom and dad are like this and I learned it my whole life. To be open to people. They always taught me that being polite is the greatest value, costs me nothing but can make a whole day for somebody else.
1 thing which I see many foreigners misunderstand are sundays. Shops being closed on sundays is not a part of polish culture, it's just something that was implemented by the previous political party that was in power, that everyone was kinda forced to live with.
To tell you how recent of a change it was. I am 17 at the moment and I remember it being implemented, meaning that it was not only done in my lifetime. It was done well into my concious tginking so around when I was 10 or so
No i jakoś obecna partia tego nie zmienia, znaczy ludzie są zadowoleni. W całej Europie zachodniej sklepy są pozamykane w niedzielę, a czasem i w dni powszednie po południu (sjesta). Tylko najbiedniejsze kraje nie mogą sobie na coś takiego pozwolić.
@@missAlice1990 jeżeli to, że partia tego nie zmienia znaczy, że ludziom się podoba. To używając tej samej logiki ludziom w Europie podoba się problem imigracji
Według badań większość Polaków chce wolnych niedziel, chcą tego również handlowcy : PIH wystosował w tej sprawie list do sejmu.
Nice to hear such opinions! A lovely channel❤
I don't really understand why Poles should be somehow similar to Asians in a cultural sense. For Poles, Asia has always been very exotic, and a culture opposed in many respects (e.g. in terms of individual freedom and individualism, which have been exceptionally strong in Poland for centuries; it is not without reason that Poles were the first in Europe to have a modern constitution). The Mongol invasions, which left such a large mark on the Russians' mentality, failed in Poland, the Mongols lost to the Poles decisively, and they were unable to exert any influence. Poland was in the circle of typical European Western and Latin culture, and in addition, 100 years of occupation of part of Polish territories by Russia did not have a major cultural impact, the differences were too great (in terms of the attitude to personal freedom and the importance of the individual, religion, the accountability of the authorities with her actions, etc.). Even communism in Poland was completely different from in the USSR (not only much more liberal, but also marked by constant social rebellion and lack of fear of authority). So explain to me what you actually meant?
It means that we generally are not extremely loud and obnoxious, we mind our own business, respect personal space and don't engage in weird social shenanigans with strangers unless we really want something from them. Asian nations are similar in that matter, but are often different in terms of attitude to individualism or compliance to authorities
@@shadezman Thanks for your explanation:)
No, it's not really "normal" to split the bill at a restaurant, unless it's with a friend or if your "boyfriend" makes a lot less money than you, but you still love him. Indeed, Polish women are very considerate and most will order moderately priced dishes in the restaurant - it's respectful.
Also, women feel a lot more secure about having children when there's financial stability.
I appreciate the part of the mood and the seasons. That's brilliant!
Many polish people just have positive feelings towards japan, taiwan and south korea, we also do watch anime and it's way more popular than you would think :D
I can understand shopping galleries being closed on Sundays, I'm sure new Gucci pants can waitml. But not being able to get groceries drives me nuts.
Yk its actually crazy that i actually learn things sometimes about poland even though I'm polish. I live in the UK but either way I'm suprised I haven't known all of the stuff you talked about.
(I'm talking about all your vids in general btw)
when it comes to the birth rates - the only reason is that hardly any family feels financially secure enough for that. there's way too many taxes in this country and many families are bound by mortgages, which are very expensive
13:00 we have Żabkas open and gas stations ofc
It's funny that you were shocked by amount of smokers. In last 20 years percentage of smokers in Poland was reduced by 3 times. That shows how bad it was earlier
I love how they talk about Polish racism.
And Poland is one of the safest countries.
There was such a lady here in Poland from Japan and she videotaped a man without his permission then the peasant showed her the middle finger.
That from the time that in Poland racism.
I think you are very kind for us :)
👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿good stuff bro. preciate you
The weather thing is so true. In the summer everithing is realy nice but in the winter the world looks like a waste land where i live
Excellent. Thx
Small businesses can and often are open on Sundays, especially grocery stores. And this is because of our labor law which was constituted after huge wave of super markets taking advantage of people and forcing them to work 7 days a week.
The thing about number 8, is that 7 years ago government put prohibition of trade. It's not a cultural thing
8:15
Maybe no one would have it "shoved" down their throat if both society and gouverments wouldn't treat us as subhumans but what can I know? Surely half of the Poland had LGBT free zone back in 2020 because they are annoyed with Netflix and not because they hate you if you aren't cishet
have you ever been outside and touched grass?
@@miniak2708 have you?
@@kami761 recently, at grandma's house, like yesterday
About LGBT+ in PL. You don't see it out because of fear of being attacked, not because people don't care about it. I live in Madrid with my partner and we go hand by hand everywhere. Currently we are on vacations in Wrocław and we cannot do that here which is frustrating for my partner. We don't want to be called names on the street. So... right now LGBT+ community in Poland is fighting about that, to not be afraid be yourself in public.
Stop that brainwashing leftist bullshit.
Asians have a reputation in Poland as hard-working people, and these are features that Poles appreciate, from my personal perspective, Asian women are the most beautiful women on the planet and still maintain their femininity, they have fantastic bodies for a long time which, unlike European women, makes them attractive until old age
For the customer service here in Poland it is this because ppl don't like aggressive sales. We go to restaurant or shop to spent a time for othar activities than beeing picked by a sales man. Customer service here was that in the 90' like, sales person approach you, try to sell you some things etc. but ppl just don't like that because it was very fake, and directed just to sell you any crap.
Customer service approach had to change, due to customer need (there was a time, when ppl on purpose avoid shops where salesman were all over you, trying to sall you anything)It had to become more calm, and I need to say I love it. When I'm at restaurant I would like to spend some time with my friends, or alone, not chatting with service. I'm not there for them - but for me.
It is different, doesn't mean it is worse.
OMG. Instead od having lots of totally false external and very shallow kindness, Polish, people are simply FULLY FAIR most of the time. They either like or dislike something or somebody, and very seldom they LIE about their preferences, wchich is a total domain of US people - who usually bear a FALSE smile on face. Regarding a small talk - first of all somebody MAY NOT WANT TO SMALL TALK to you, so why do you expect everybody to respond? Just leave everybodys FREE WILL to choose whom they will or will not talk to. Also do not use the argument of being lowly social because if you happened to KNOW ANYTHING anout the Polish peoplel, you would be amazed HOW SOCIAL AND FAMILIAR they are. The second thing is - just go to the UK and you will be surprised how UNWANTED a small talk could be ON THE DAILY BASIS. And most of all the Brits have built the USA. So you should first well listen to yourself prior to publishing this silly video. Do not constantly tell that Polish people are great (you repeat it every second sentence) , because the Polish people are not great at all, especially having explained how bad they are, being sad, shut up, non-social, non communicative, quiet, etc. Just on the contrary to the US people they are just REAL, FAIR and ADEQUATE to the situation.
I live in UK (Polish woman) which influenced by American culture a lot and I have ambigious feelings about customer service: if I am in the shop and someone is constantly bothering me with their "how can I help you" I will simply leave; on the other side it is very helpful that people are polite in offices, hotels, on the buses etc
As for lgbt situation. I think that here you are free to love whoever you want, its your buissnes. We do not "celebrate" stuff like this, thats why the west think we are against it🤔 at least I feel this is the problem. We arent buying the ideology. If you keep stuff to yourself its ok and nost people are pretry tolerant. Only change I want now from this field is law about lgb marriages, because I see no argument against it and a disscusion about adopting kids by lgb couples. I'm against it for now but I want dissusion so I could see arguments from every side.
What you say is accurate for the people, However the loud minority of right wing politicians/religious people is what the world sees.
@@leno_o17"the world" does not really care, believe me. Only stupid leftists spread their stupid propaganda about PR in "the world".
@@leno_o17in Poland that's the majority
@@ambustio9807 far from that. Maybe you haven't noticed, but we have a liberal government, chosen by the MAJORITY of voters, even though the conservative voters usually have a much better turnout. One of the main reasons why the former one was so hated, was their crusade against the lgbt, to the point that even their own electorate started voting for the less extreme parties. People generally mind their own buiseness, and even if they're "ideologically against it", you're probably gonna get called out if you start being an asshole and offending someone. There are some loud groups that are vocal about being anti lgbt, but the masses who give the conservative parties high scores in the elections, are still made up 70% of older people, 70+, close to the Church etc.
@@leno_o17 and KO is loosing that political support and only reason they won is because they arent PiS not because people actually like them.
It goes both ways people dont like others opinion showed in their face
Yes people dont care that youre gay but if you go around dressed all im rainbow telling others how progressive and proud you are that counts as someone showing their opinions in peoples face duble that if you insult them while claiming to be superior.
In the west narcisism is celebrated while in Poland people rather not deal with people like that also nah there are loud groups of students from the west and LGBT people are the minority I suggest you leave your campus or gated community and talk to majority of people who will not move out in 4 years or tech nomads
California has shallow friendships, however in nyc , for example, we have strong European style multi decade friendships virtually unknown in California. so please speak of "in California" on that topic and not "in the usa" Californians are known throughout the usa and abroad for their "false friendliness" and their shallowness however this is not a usa trait but a out west trait encompassing california as well. R
As a Polish person I do hate customer service, especially in the supermarkets 😅
But, I don't like customer service in e.g. Sephora, where they ask you if you need any help all the fu***ng time. After 4 min. I run. Literally.
And if you go to bazaar you need to be very direct and smart and it's better if you send there a woman - my bf very often gets worse vegetables and fruits relying on the seller's help :P
We greet each other in the elevators - maybe it depends to the place and the people.
No small talk? Yes, but not with the older people - they always ask me about many things, even if I don't know them, they want to talk a little, etc. If you have an older nieghbour there is a high probability he/she would like to know you and have a small talk. And the grandmas would like you to know their granddaughters ;)
My neighbours wave me from their windows sometimes.
Music - listen to Chopin ;) It's our treasure.
LGBT - Polish people don't like to be pushed to do sth, especially against their believes or perspective. So if you're different than they are or have different opinion/lifestyle it's okay (we can dispute, why not) but many ppl don't like to be overwhelmed by concrete agendas or told what to do or what to believe in.
Four seasons - I must admit, we work and hibernate in the winter and the late fall. Then we thrive and try to relax a little bit. We also like complaining about the weather. It's said you need to check the forecast to know how you should feel today. "Ciśnienie" (the pressure) is a key word and never can be good.
Polish ppl don't like Russians and Germans and their languages (I love German but I'm in 1%) because of the history. I think the younger generation is able to change that a little. That's why Polish ppl learn English and Spanish willingly (now there is a real rise of the number of ppl learning Spanish). Ofc, many things depend on the place you live in.
"Polish smile" - hmm, we are more cynical than funny but we like interesting conversations and laughing a lot. But we need to know you - if you're our "ziomek" everything will go smoothly 😅
Live in Poland in recent decades become more and more expensive this leads to many decision about housing, rent, having family and kids.
I met a lot of gays, was friends with most, they're just normal people and open about their sexuality, tho they're mostly friends with woman. Theres even a gay club in Kraków hahahah and Poznań is probably the gayest city in Poland
Once my friend was called a fag on the street in Poznań by some drunk idiot and I was really surprised because of this city reputation. It was just a coward tho because when we responded he walked away very fast
I have been in USA this year (California and Nevada) and aI would say that just about 30% of staff I met was that friendly and smiling as its usually being said. The rest was normally busy and not chatting and not smiling. It also wasn't due to my Polish smile😅 cause i spend few years abroad so i know how to make polite smile in public 😊
There's a few things to do in LGBT area in Poland. We have no legal partnerships, (not to mention about marriages...). We have still a big influence of the church which is against it along with its followers (and potential voters in elections). The reasom why you see more lesbians than gays is the fact the girls won't be attacked and harassed just because they are girls. Two guys showing affection to each other (no matter if they are straight or gay) are much more unacceptable. All the antipathy towards LGBT is usually more concentrated on gays than lesbians.
I disagree with smoking though. It's still an issue, but basically there is ban to smoke in pubs, bars, restaurants, bus stops, hotels, kids playgrounds and any public places, except for places that are explicitly marked as smoking areas. I only faced this problem in Tri-city where nearly everyone was smoking on the street that it was hard to breathe with fresh air. It also becomes more and more unpopular and unwanted because we have a very strong trend to clean eating, clean living, and in general healthy lifestyle.
10:40 As a Polish person the best months are from may to about half of september(9th month)
I gotta admit , he ain't lying 😁
I want you to know, Thank you for creating videos. I sent you a message on Whatsapp about Poland ❤
some grocery stores are open on sundays for example żabka
Hey, thank you for the video and your insights. The fact that shops are closed on Sundays is something relatively new, and it was introduced by the party that, thankfully, is no longer ruling here in Poland. Interestingly, shops are also closed on Sundays in Germany, by the way. Hopefully, this will change in Poland soon, as we now have a less conservative government. Another thing to note: Polish people are generally divided into two broad groups-conservatives and liberals. So, what you mentioned about Poles applies more to the conservative side. The entire country isn't like that, though. But isn't it the same in the US compare California to Texas or even Illinois. Completely different mentalities.
If you smile at someone You don't know In Poland You will most likely be labeled as a creep or just stupid. Sadly thats how it is here
unless its a cute small child😂 we smile to give them assurance of safety and feeling welcome so they can grow in positive environment
or pets, we give them warm smiles as well for free, cause they are either cute or funny
You make my day :)
In my opinion polish people are really friendly to people from the other countries, but under 2 conditions
1) You have to respect our culture, this is our country and we don't want to change, we respect you and your traditions but we will not change our, have a work, know the easiest polish words, we know that learn our language is really hard
2) you have to make a first step - anyone say first come to us, how are you etc. but if you make this little step, show that you want to learn sth about Poland or you ask about sth I think that a lot of people here will do a lot for you - for example in the dorm was a person from Georgia and one day at the evening he asked us about polish cuisine and the next week we made him a polish traditional dinner, but if he will not ask - anyone will carry about him
I thought I would have children when I was 20-22. Now I'm 28 and I still have no plans. We can't afford it as a couple.
"It's becoming a lot more Western." Poland is a Catholic country in Europe, how is it anything other than Western?
quite a superficial comment. Poland is not Western like the US at all, though it's headed towards that direction.
@@WheresWes Poland is as Western as the US. For over a thousand years, Poland has been a Catholic country heavily influenced by the Catholic Church. Poles studied at Western universities, and during our golden age, Westerners came to study at our universities. Polish kings shared blood with Western royal families, and Polish culture was shaped by the same mechanisms as any other Western country. The only period when Poland was forcibly disconnected from the West was during the Soviet occupation from 1945 to 1989. Saying that we are not a Western country because of 44 years out of our more than 1000-year history shows ignorance. Moreover, arguing that Poland is not Western because our culture is more conservative is far from true. The US is as religious and conservative as Poland (there are plenty of statistics to support this), and even in Europe, there are conservative Western countries like Portugal and Italy. It's especially annoying to us because saying we're not "Western" is like discarding 99% of our history just because we were poor and occupied by the Soviets, making us not "cool" enough to be associated with you. Finally, Poland is not heading in a "western" direction because Poland is part of what defines the West. Read at least a Wikipedia article on this topic.
@@WheresWes Here's the thing, most Poles consider Poland a fully "Western" country. Saying otherwise can make some people feel offended. For them, you're implying that Poland is an "Eastern" country.
@@WheresWesa co w usa jest zachodniego narkomania seryjni mordercy bród smród ciągle wojny na niewinne kraje wymordowanie Indian lizanie dupy Żydom człowieku zanim zaczniesz coś pisać zacznij myśleć głową
@@WheresWes No country is Western like the US, only US is Western like the US. Italy is Western like Italy, Germany is Western like Germany, Finland is Western like Finland, and Poland is Western like Poland. Poland was never culturally Eastern, it's just in people's heads that because there was Soviet Union once and it closed the iron curtain for 45 years for many countries, all those countries somehow magically become Eastern forever. And we don't heading towards the direction of the US: we don't want US car, gun, celebrity or materialism culture, if that's what some may consider 'western' (but in fact is just American).
Appreciate you bro 😊
Personally as a Pole I prefer American customer service, I'm sorry but when I'm in a shop or restaurant I'm not there to deal with rude or blunt interactions with random workers, I don't care if it fake or not, I just want to enjoy my day without having to deal with others not being in control of their emotions. And I'm saying this as someone who worked in customer service
About winter depression: much of it is just deficiency of Vitamin D - you've lived in sunny places all your life, so I'd guess this is how your body could have reacted to it. If you're planning to spend a bit more here, make sure to start take Vitamin D pills starting October. Hopefully, you'll see a lot of difference (:
It’s kind of funny that as a Pole living in the US/LA I only agree with the first half of your observation. Absolutely Poles will be distant at first but as they get to know you they will open up and become friendly(to a point where they will feed you and give money if you need it the second time they see you). Americans are very friendly at first (hence a lot of small talk), very easy to talk to talk but it feels almost meaningless and superficial. It takes years to build a true friendship with Americans to drop their guard and to open up. Poles are racist in general as the country is so homogenous but at the same time as they get to know you and if you try to learn Polish they will treat you as our own.
Warsaw is way more fun than Krakow (and definitely more Asian products to can buy if you know where to go).
Love you❤😂🎉
It's not accepted in Poland to grin senselessly for commercial reasons in service because politeness is more than a plastered grin.
Wow but that grin is really included in politeness. So hard to give people a smile instead of unfiendly frown as it happens most often?
@@Derayes There's a difference between keeping a straight face and an unfriendly frown. Why sway to the other end of the spectrum? Polite service is also about attentiveness, professionalism and discretion. It's not set in stone that we should all slavishly copy all things American.
@@jwojczulis as I stated above, and please do not stubbornly associate pleasant smile with Americanness ;)
@@Derayes Each one to his own.
7:00 - it's not at all surprising if you dig deeper into the subject. Most young people don't have the financial stability to raise children. It's easy to just make babies and then live in poverty, but most people want to secure better living conditions for their children. And unfortunately due to abortion law many women just fear getting pregnant in case something goes wrong and she has to go through horror in a hospital...
The last 300 years of our history have unfortunately taught to hide feelings.
Do not exaggerate these "numerous invasions" and "hundreds of years" when Poland was erased from the map. It was only 123 really difficult years plus World War II. And the history of Poland, as a state, is over 1000 years old. For most of this time, what Poland met was similar to what other countries met in Europe. And family values result from a mentality shaped over 1000 years ago plus the influence of Catholicism. Norman Davies described it well in his historical books about Poland.
you got used to artificial american smile qich is just a mask
Smoking is a big problem in Poland. Now I’m working in a hospital in thoracic surgery clinic and most of a patients are older people with loungs cancers who were smokers or their partner was. Now people are turning away from conventional cigarettes to tabacco heaters or vapes and it’s not good either. On the other hand my professors from university who are doctors are smoking too. To the collegium anatomicum you are entering through smoke curtain.
I one of your vids you said you would like to have deep conversations with your gf/wife. Then I'd say a Polish woman is ideal for you. She would apprreciate you for who you are but then you would have to reciprocate.
My advice: don't shy away from our language. You already speak two Indoeuropean languages (English and Spanish), it would be your third hence it would be a lot easier. We have numerous borrowings from Latin, which you would pick up instantly. In fact, the difficulty of Polish is overrated. It may seem hard at the beginning, but then it starts to make a lot of sense and becomes much easier, especially for a gifted individual like you.
I wish you a lot of good luck in our country 🙂
I am really impressed with the accuracy of your observations. BTW> THe 'sundays' came here just a few years here with crazy, conservative government.
Crazy government is the one who rules now.
from what i can tell extended families are more common than nuclear families in poland
odnośnie takiej polskiej powściągliwości względem do nowych czy obcych osób to kiedyś wyczytałam w jakiejś naukowej historycznej książce, że na nas Polaków wypływa to z naszej historii, konkretnie z okresów kiedy Polska była pod zaborami, nasza kultura i Polskość była rugowana, Polacy w jakiejś części byli zaangażowani w działania konspiracyjne by odzyskać swe państwo i musieli być bardzo ostrożni co i do kogo mówią w nie wpaść w tarapaty by zwyczajnie przeżyć, natomiast gdy już wiedzieli, że są bezpieczni czy z danej osoby nie grozi im niebezpieczeństwo otwierali się, wiesz długo nad tym myślałam i doszłam do wniosku, że to chyba jest prawdą- piszę to bo często nie zdajemy sobie nawet sprawy z tego jak przeszłość wpływa na charaktery i obecne społeczeństwo, wielu nie rozumie naszych zachowań jak nie zna naszej historii,
Greetings from Tricity in Poland :-)
Iam so sory for racists , and just want to thank you for your point of view on Poland🙂 Regards!!!!
okay, get it
As a 29 year old Pole I think I can explain some of those things from mine perspective... also as Im stoping and counting the things you say its show they are technicly more then 8 things that shock you but thats detail xD
1. Customer Servie- Its true we had bad but I think it comes from our social culture. Because we are cold to the strangers we want to just do the thing and be gone. But when some customer is just starts nagging us are get angry because we dont want to have anything with anoying person
2. Closed Social Culture- This is the reason why Customer Service it is what it is. On other hand because of that we can be very tolerant becasue many of us got mentality "Not mine circus, not mine monkeys" and we usualy try understand other people but also if we fell that someone naggs us we get angry and just that person to go away. We also got strick circle of trust. If you are in it you bet many people in it will even fight in your defence but if you are not in it then dont expect us to so much.
3. Direct- For us it easy. We dont like wasting our and others time and we also dont like playing around. Simple example is me and mine brother. We live together and share task around the house. Because of that one day I just go to him and simply ask "Can you do me a favor? I just mowed the yard 2 times in the row and now its going to be 3rd. Can you do that this time?". He said he will do if he can because on tommorow he must start packing and drive to the job and he wont be in home for 2 weeks. Unfrotuntley the next day there was a strom so he could not do it but because of that we now got unwriten agreement that next mowing the yard is on him.
4. Frugal- I think this comes from our past and how we were learned. As you may know after WW2 Poland was under Soviet ocupation and lets just say during that time everything was high price or on low supply. We didnt get top products, we just were happy that we got the basic need becasue we know how it is to dont have much. Because of that even after
PPR our families got this mentality that we just happy we got things. Because of that when we go to the dinner with someone we dont go crazy even when the other person says "Its on me" we dont want to exploit this act of kindness but show appreciation and respect to it.
5. Relationship Oriented- I think this part is mix of Closed Social Culture and Frugal points.
6. Family Values- Once again Closed Social but also most of us love our family and care for every member of it because we know when the times are hard or friends abandon you... Family stays. Even on this moment mine mind goes if someone of mine family just visit without saying I would be just happy, hug them and ask if they are hungry or the want something to drink. This is maybe also come from our tradicional/culture/religion values.
7. LGBT- I think the absence of this is because of mentality "Not mine circus, not mine monkeys" that I said before. You do what you want to do but be respectfull about it. If someone will start shouting what they are we are see that person as anoying one and as "special snowflake". I know that Poland is very tradicional and most of people here see LGBT as anomaly or a sin but if you dont rub this into our face we just dont care of your sexuality, but if you do rub it... get ready to get punched.
8. Music- This may be the only thing I just cant explain. Maybe thats just our preferences.
9. Weather- On that I can agree its drastic and we just reacting with the weather. if it rains most of us are sleepy, when we're cold we dont like to move and if we have to we are angry, when its warm we are felling awakened and full of energy. I think most of Poles are just sensitive to the weather.
10. Vodka and Cigarets- Its true its a very social thing. During soviet times those things were very exclusive so we usualy tried to share this tipe of luxuary with others. I know this even with the fact I dont smoke and I drink only one glass of wine on the weddings. Maybe those items also help most of Poles just relax and set lose and just enjoy the moment and company.
11. Asian Treatment- I think this is maybe have his roots even from medival times. Those were times where Poland was maybe one of the most diverced kingdoms. Even some of the tribes that attacked us... some of them stayed like for example Tatars or Mongols. We dont mind diffrent cultures or nationalits, sometimes I think we are even ciurius about them.
Fun fact. The rude part of people usually have to deal with bs so they are rude to show others there is no bs to be pulled with them
i like that people are making fun of our complaining not knowing it drives our nation - like.. its really shitty stairs there.. makes someone rebuild it and make it better for everyone
Did I hear that correctly? I quote...
"Americans are open as people." 😂 That was funny considering that they are mostly pretending.
In Poland, smiles are sincere. We don't pretend behind a mask of an artificial smile that everything is great. We smile when we know that something is good. :)
Polish customer service is one of the worst, it has nothing to do with hospitality.I travelled to many countries and this is my honest opinion even if its not what many people expect
Try to go to vixa, you gonna love it
You can see so much kids becouse you live in a big city. In small towns and villages things are different
About LG's. It's not like we are against it as a whole but problem are politicians and activists who trying to enforce things like "man can be pregnant" (it's not a joke).
So it's not a suprise we just make distance from this thema.
For me personally until they keep it in their own bed, not trying to enforce their opinion on me and are far from children (for example adopting) then literally who cares they are gay, bi, lesbian, green, pink or helicopter apatch.
Curious about the cultural similarities between Poles and Asians. Mongols didn’t succeed in conquering Poles. Whenever Russia does something that upsets the West the Anglos go full racist and characterize white as snow Russians as “Asiastic”. I thought Poland considers itself western plus it’s a catholic state
Poles generally consider themselves (along with the Baltics and Ukraine) as the eastern boundaries of 'West'. People further east (i.e. Russia) are the 'barbarians '.
Poland post WWII is the most homogeneous that it's ever been. That plus 'religious processions ' being the only legal way to demonstrate against the communist government is why Roman Catholicism was so prevalent in Poland.
Previously Poland was one of the most diverse countries in Europe with plenty of Protestants, Orthodox, Muslims, & Jews living in comparative harmony. Fun fact: There is/was a Polish mosque in Brooklyn, NY.
Thanks for sharing ak. Odd how Poles earmark Ukraine as being apart of the West. Given how Ukrainians have the same father civilization as the Russian Empire. Along with the handiwork of Stefan Bandera. Always thought Ukrainians are genetically and culturally Rus’ regardless of what the West claims
@@LeadLeftLeon That's the point. Today's russia was a savage country paying tributes to Mongols when today's Ukraine was influenced by Polish and Lithuanians. For example: until moscovians took over the part of Ukraine with an important city of Chernihiv after the treaty of Pereyaslav, they had not even one scientific centre. No academy, university - nothing. Genetics have nothing to do because Ukrainians since the emergence of their national identity knew that leaning to East means slavery and subjection to feudal tsardom. While they have some grugdes with Poland from the times of their struggles for independence they were always more or less leaning westward, despite being Rus ethnicity and orthodox faith. Russia have other values than imperialism
@@ak5659 Before the war position of church among common people wasn't that strong. For centuries it was the local nobles and elite that dictates and priests were lower in the social hierarchy. Communism removed the upper class and church filled the void and with few exeption get along with communists pretty well until 70s. In the most of vicinities parish priest and Party secretaty were more or less chummies. Being an open opposition is a relatively late case.
@@LeadLeftLeonPoles also have the same father civilization because we were all Slavs, before the east/west/south Slavs division happened. Rus fell apart in the 13th century and since then different parts were evolving in a very different way. ukraine and Belarus were under the influence of Poland -Lithuania, so by proxy also "the West", while what later became Russia was under the influence of the Mongols. When Muscovy emerged a few centuries later, and started conquering the old Rus territories, it was a completely different entity from the part belonging to Poland-Lithuania, with different language and culture. For Poles Russia also feels "asiatic" whenever it does something stupid, because it feels so unnatural for us and so similar to what the Mongols were like.