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How do people react when you tell them you are Polish?


adrian11224 7 | 41  
2 Aug 2009 /  #1
Just wondering I'll sometimes be talking to different kinds of people and it gets to the point where I have to tell them I'm from Poland and they react like if I just told them I sell insurance for a living.

Has this ever happened to you ?

Its never like that when I tell people I'm German or Italian or French!

Thanks.
z_darius 14 | 3,965  
2 Aug 2009 /  #2
Not enough options.

Most of the time a person I tell I'm Polish says someone in their family is Polish, of Polish descend, married to a Poles, their nephew, cousin, uncle or what have you married a Pole, or at least there was a granny somewhere along the way who came from Poland.
plk123 8 | 4,142  
2 Aug 2009 /  #3
or the say huh? or where is that? :D
z_darius 14 | 3,965  
2 Aug 2009 /  #4
Some actually know it's somewhere close to the US border with China.
Eurola 4 | 1,902  
2 Aug 2009 /  #5
Right on z_d. Especially around Chicago. It's almost hard to meet someone who does not have some kind of polish heritage, whether immediate or or going back a couple of generations... or simply a family member who just married a Pole...Jeez :)
plk123 8 | 4,142  
2 Aug 2009 /  #6
Some actually know it's somewhere close to the US border with China.

lol.. ain't that the truth.

Especially around Chicago.

up and down the great lakes. ever been up in milwaukee or GB? who doesn't have a polish name up there?
Eurola 4 | 1,902  
2 Aug 2009 /  #7
Yes, I agree...besides Chicago at least a half of Wisconsin residents (lots of farmers) bear polish last name! :) The same goes for Michigan.
krysia 23 | 3,058  
2 Aug 2009 /  #8
who doesn't have a polish name up there?

I don't
Bratwurst Boy 12 | 11,743  
2 Aug 2009 /  #9
Its never like that when I tell people I'm German or Italian or French!

Why do you tell people you are German, Italian or French???
Amanda91 1 | 135  
2 Aug 2009 /  #10
I don't

and few others too :-)
Bartolome 2 | 1,085  
2 Aug 2009 /  #11
I get mostly positive reactions. But then again I'm in Scotland. I don't know what reactions I'd get in other parts of the world.
z_darius 14 | 3,965  
2 Aug 2009 /  #12
Why do you tell people you are German, Italian or French???

In the is US they do that so that it is clear they are American ;)
Sasha 2 | 1,083  
2 Aug 2009 /  #13
Option #4 from the top.
OP adrian11224 7 | 41  
2 Aug 2009 /  #14
Why do you tell people you are German, Italian or French???

to make it seem like I'm rich somehow of course.

Who's going to believe a Pole owned a railroad from the 1700's ?

you know ?
Maybe I'm just shining light on my subconscious thoughts cuz I came from a filthy poor family where we battled with roaches since I've been 9.

Meh.
scrappleton - | 829  
2 Aug 2009 /  #15
In the is US they do that so that it is clear they are American ;)

It's done to differentiate between other Americans living in America. Not abroad. French Canadians don't do it? Indians?
z_darius 14 | 3,965  
2 Aug 2009 /  #16
It's done to differentiate between other Americans living in America. Not abroad.

Indeed, abroad some Americans wear Canadian flags, sold by some of the US tourists agencies.

I met a nice couple from Kentucky in Paris. Not fooled by their back packs with Canadian flags I asked them where they were from, since their accents sure weren't ones you hear daily in Canada.
OP adrian11224 7 | 41  
3 Aug 2009 /  #17
Really! oops

yes!...

does or has any one of your Polish family members or ancestors owned a railroad Bratwurst Boy ?
scrappleton - | 829  
3 Aug 2009 /  #18
Indeed, abroad some Americans wear Canadian flags,

.. and some Canadians bear swastika tatoos. Probably not as loose an affiliation like the one you're chirping about above.

since their accents sure weren't ones you hear daily in Canada.

Meaning theirs were intelligible.

Strange how often your posts swing back to the US.. on a Polish Forum. One might observe it's a bit of a compulsion for you?
sledz 23 | 2,250  
3 Aug 2009 /  #19
who doesn't have a polish name up there?
I don't

lol :)

Strange how often your posts swing back to the US.. on a Polish Forum. One might observe it's a bit of a compulsion for you?

Hes one of, if not the biggest American bashers on here.
scrappleton - | 829  
3 Aug 2009 /  #20
biggest American basher on here

Must be.. Why throw punches on a thread that has jack sh.t to do with the States? We'll fix him but hopefully he won't counter with a Gordon Lightfoot thread. :-(
beckski 12 | 1,617  
3 Aug 2009 /  #21
How do people react when you tell them you are Polish?

I don't need to tell people I'm Polish. My Polish surname is usually a dead giveaway...
z_darius 14 | 3,965  
3 Aug 2009 /  #22
and some Canadians bear swastika tatoos. Probably not as loose an affiliation like the one you're chirping about above.

No, it's an old symbol. Very old.

This is a town in Ontario:



These are US Navy buildings:

Meaning theirs were intelligible.

They were talking about dawgs messing the streets of Paris.

Hes one of, if not the biggest American bashers on here.

Must be..

Sensitive little poopsies, aren't we?
polishcanuck 7 | 462  
3 Aug 2009 /  #23
Usually people think i'm swedish (blond hair, light complexion) but when i say i was born in poland they become nervous and quite often the discussion ends. It's like they're scared to ask me questions about my background, much like people here in politically correct canada are afraid to ask a brown/black/asia etc guy where he's from for fear of offending someone. I'm actually quite an easy going guy and often joke about myself so i don't understand why people behave this way. I'm also white, so i can't pull out the race card.
scrappleton - | 829  
3 Aug 2009 /  #24
This is a town in Ontario

Scenic.. you can almost hear the stomachs growling. You won't charge me a tax for looking at the pic, will you?

These are US Navy buildings:

Function over form, champ. However, I'm sure that won't keep either you or Bratwurst from searching earnestly for some clandestine link that explains the pure evil intent of the US government's design. Do the Canadians even have a navy? Did the British give you permission? We all know you would squat in a stream if Queen Mother wished it of you.

They were talking about dawgs messing the streets of Paris.

You're the one who has just misspelled "dogs".

poopsies

Like I said, the Kentuckians were probably intelligible.
PlasticPole 7 | 2,648  
3 Aug 2009 /  #25
When I tell them I am Polish, they are in awe of my greatness, kiss my feet and give me all kinds of cool stuff.
Pan Kazimierz 1 | 195  
3 Aug 2009 /  #27
Function over form, champ.

You do realize that it's sitting right next to two other complexes of entirely different design? My guess is that it's just older than the other two; renovating can be much cheaper than re-designing.

However, I'm sure that won't keep either you or Bratwurst from searching earnestly for some clandestine link that explains the pure evil intent of the US government's design. Do the Canadians even have a navy? Did the British give you permission? We all know you would squat in a stream if Queen Mother wished it of you.

You do know the history of the Swastika? It far predates Nazism and Hitler and the like. Just like the Roman Salute (which the US and oh-so-many other countries, as with the swastika, used to use, until it acquired that association with Hitler).

When I tell them I am Polish, they are in awe of my greatness, kiss my feet and give me all kinds of cool stuff.

When I was in the States, I was in the South. And when I told them my accent was Polish, the average mook asked me if I "speak Poland?" (no kidding), and the intelligent-ignorant asked if I was Jewish. Either way, I usually responded with percussive maintenence to the cranial lobe of the individual in question, and then gave the appropriate answer.
OP adrian11224 7 | 41  
4 Aug 2009 /  #28
When I was in the States, I was in the South. And when I told them my accent was Polish, the average mook asked me if I "speak Poland?" (no kidding), and the intelligent-ignorant asked if I was Jewish. Either way, I usually responded with percussive maintenence to the cranial lobe of the individual in question, and then gave the appropriate answer.

Its terribly dissapointing to me about how people react to being Polish.

Its really not that bad though looking at the other side of the grass, because we in existance, but the amount of time I have spent in the united states (12 years) has put me around some really intelligent people that sadly were never Polish.

I look at the nation compared to Germany and England, and for some reason I am not surprised that they make BMW's and Benz while we make Kielbasa.

Not that that's a bad thing but if we were only more out on the media and entrepreneurial, than I really would have something to be proud of.

And don't get me wrong I try as best as I can over here. Its just disappointing about the USA that so little trust worthy people are here, especially in NYC where the Population of the surrounding boroughs of Manhattan are grossly infected with the people, who's racial insult terms that start with the N word and the S word for Hispanics I won't bother to mention so that this post can move on. Just the truth is people are like little machines and you have to learn to become the master of them. Make them work for you!

This is how Jews think ;) Who are among the most amazing people on this planet. I believe.
z_darius 14 | 3,965  
4 Aug 2009 /  #29
Do the Canadians even have a navy?

Why would Canadians needs its own navy?
We got the entire US Navy at our disposal. We spend our money on far more important things, such as mittens in Winter and hockey arenas.

You boys keep up the good job. Much appreciated.
Oh, don;t forget to fill your income tax return. That navy ain't free after all.

Population of the surrounding boroughs of Manhattan are grossly infected with the people, who's racial insult terms that start with the N word and the S word for Hispanics

Germany and England, and for some reason I am not surprised that they make BMW's and Benz while we make Kielbasa.

Glad to see how the amazing Jews look at Germans and Poles. After all it was Poles who practically forced Germans to attempt the extermination of all European Jews. And all Germans ever wanted was just to build BMWs.
PlasticPole 7 | 2,648  
4 Aug 2009 /  #30
and the intelligent-ignorant asked if I was Jewish.

Haha, yes. They always think we are jewish based on our last name.

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