heh, "holly cow".
Mr. Wiech - you must realise that to disagree with someone saying that Polish people are rude and disrespectful by insulting them is proving their point. You might try to think about what you say, before you say it.
As for the rest of this thread - 90% generalisation and collectivist ignorance and intolerance.
I live in "little Poland", which is an area of my town where I do not hear English spoken very much at all. Most of my neighbours are Polish, or from some country like this. There are Russians, Turkish, Greek, Muslim, Indian, Pakistani, Nepalese, Latvian, Slovakian and Slovenian, lots of Eastern European people.
I have not found Polish people to be particularly friendly, unless you meet them often. Then - it is often that they can be too friendly :P
Getting dragged out of bed at 2am to drink Zubr and Vodka is fine every now and then, but not 5 nights a week.
I had become good friends with some local Polish guys and girls, and we'd play football, have BBQ's, etc... They would swear a lot.
When they became too familiar, they would lose a lot of respect and I felt that they would take advantage of my welcoming and friendly nature.
One time I came home, to find that a guy had brought a girl back - into my house - was in my bed and they had gone through my wardrobe and were laughing at all my possessions. This was unacceptable, so they no longer live here.
The fact that there would often be a large group of Polish guys (all fresh from the gym, because they are obviously scared to look like they can't fight you) would intimidate my older neighbours. Several of them did not like coming home from work only to have to "run the gauntlet" to get into the building.
These people would be drinking lager and vodka, smoking cannabis, taking cocaine, etc...
The thing is - it was rarely the people who lived here. These people would congregate outside the building because they had a friend who lived here. The police were never called, because I prefer to sort things out myself, but I am glad that I can take care of myself - these guys showed no respect and often would "face down" if I took issue with the fact that they were ******* me off so much by always being there and breaking things and leaving the place covered in globs of spit, empty beer cans and cigarette butts.
This, however, is only one group of people (although many in my town experience similar things).
It is not not that Polish people are "impolite" or lack courtesy. It is more that a lot of Polish people (and others) are "inconsiderate".
This inconsideration for their neighbours is usually the reason why their tenancy is not renewed.
Many times I would have to go outside at 4am, to ask them to STFU because you are keeping me and everyone else awake for the third night in a row. They will be playing (terrible :P) music very loudly while working on their cars all afternoon, drinking and shouting to each other, as is happening right now outside my window.
If I say, "mate, please turn the music down - it's driving me crazy", I get a bunch of backchat and sometimes the music is turned up louder.
If I simply close my windows firmly - the music gets turned down quite quickly and / or they go work on their cars somewhere else.
Actions speak louder than words.
When drunk, the women can become very friendly. This makes some the Polish men rather more unfriendly ;p
I've experienced a lot of racist comments from drunk Polish people, because I am English.
One guy in the block has conversations with a guy on another street, by shouting out of his window to him.
Another guy's car is constantly loaded with so many potatoes that the muffler is almost dragging on the ground and makes a terrible noise when he comes in and out.
The BBQ's and parties are usually a "closed event" and - unless you are friends with the people throwing it - you will not be invited to come over and sit down, have a beer and some food, etc...
This brings me to the next point.
The town that I will be leaving soon used to have a sense of "whole" community among its residents.
With the influx of so many different cultures - this is no longer the case.
What there is now are many smaller communities who do not mix together. The list that I gave earlier - Russians, Turkish, Greek, Muslim, Indian, Pakistani, Nepalese, Latvian, Slovakian and Slovenian - surprisingly, the "friendliest" and most considerate of these people tend to be Muslims and Indians. However - they do not mix, they are merely polite and often are trying to sell you something or conduct business (so that's why).
There are very strong divides in this community. Russian club, Polish club, Ghurka club, Muslim business club, Russian social club.
Even 2nd / 3rd generation Polish people will have a hard time mixing with other nationalities (and they hold British passports). Some of the children born here have a hard time speaking English and are very shy (more often combative) when I say hello, as I have to push past them to get into the building in which I reside.
This, to me, is deeply regrettable.
I love to feel a sense of community - many of my neighbours know me and the ones who don't will often recognise me when we do meet, remembering me from, "so-and-so a few years ago", when I have no recollection of them.
The massive influx of migrants has damaged my community as a whole by dividing it into many smaller communities.
This is not like London, where there is a sense of identity, (ie, "we're all Londoners). Here, it is, "this town is a dump, I hang out with my friends, I don't mix with anyone else because I don't have to even speak English if I don't want to".
It is not "Polish people are rude", or "Greeks are untrustworthy", or "Muslims hate whites and women", or "Indians sell phones and chocolate bars", or any other stereotype that has arisen over the past few decades in the UK.
It is that these people have - in all this time - chosen to not integrate into my community as a whole, have not adopted nor adapted British culture into their lives here (hey, be nationalistic all you want - this is England, you're allowed to be... But this is England :P), and appear to make no effort to do so. They have segregated themselves from the native population and - like pretty much ANY expat anywhere in the world - have set up a place that is their own "taste of home".
However, when I am sitting in my front room and do not hear English spoken in the street for days at a time, receive no communication from the people in my neighbourhood, spend most of my time dealing with combative situations with "foreigners" (who hold British passports) and feel that I am alone in my world with no sense of community - THAT is when there is a problem.
I don't give a flying toss who you are or where you come from. I care about who you are now and where you are going - what you are making of this place, right now. What I see is that all these people are making our town into a place I no longer want to be (I hope to leave in two weeks, to live further into the countryside...).
I have been displaced from my community, by those who do not consider themselves a part of it.
Or who are as insulting and ignorant, as many of the people in this post have been (looking at you, Mr. Weich).
And this is why I will be voting to leave the EU on the 26th.
Interestingly enough, the people with "the most different ethnicity" in my town are the ones who have integrated into the community most easily. People with African or Afro-Carribean descent, a lot of Chinese and other East Asian people - they describe themselves as, "English / British, of so-and-so origin".
It's very easy to forget the colour of their skin, because they are the same as me.
However - A lot for the Eastern European communities - they make sure that I know that they are not English / British, but "English are ok...".
For the sake of pedantics - The parties and BBQ's and things I mention are in communal areas. Whenever a bunch of "us neighbours" get together (usually only English) - we try to invite whoever is passing to join us, because they are also, "neighbours".
There is always almost immediately a divide, as these people will highlight that they are not "one of us".
It is saddening to me, because I love all my neighbours regardless of culture or race.
