Why are Poles always so miserable? Why do they never smile?

haha...

I agree Poland been through so much that they are trying to get up own their own.
of course with their goverment now and not good jobs they will not be happy.
you know there are also a lot of miserable Americans. I can be one at times.
we have a high depression problem here. there are so many anti depressents drugs here. Polish people are friendly. I think more of the younger generation. but you know I think how you act is all about where you grew up who was the goverment at that time and your family how they raised you.I hope Poland does better and the people will prosper.Amirah

Most of the Polish people I know here in the States are friendly and smiley....a bit more serious than the Americans, but not much.

It takes a long time to get over your history. Even some Americans who were always wealthy, if just one bad thing happened in their childhood, it takes them 40 years and a lot of therapy to get over it.

The main problem in life is learning to see life through happy innocent eyes, even if you've been hurt. Yet tomorrow really is a new day, and we can get up in the morning hoping for a great day.

Yeah, I sound like a sappy American, but there's a lot to be said for the earnest optimism that is part of this country.

Learning to have that child-like faith is why Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven belongs to little children.

prozac rules, doesn't it? lol

I have Polish Ancestry and I Smile alot :-)

re: of course with their goverment now ... they will not be happy

- Well, the majority of Poles seem to back their government.

hmmm... interesting debate going on here! I had a penpal in Polkowice who turned out to be such a manic depressive that I eventually broke all contact after more than a year of trying to be sympathetic. On the other hand, I've recently been in contact with new members at the trivago travel community where we have just launched a Polish platform and can honestly say that they are a very normal and pleasant bunch. In fact more so than many of the UK members... As a South African I am not biased either way - it is just fascinating getting to know these various cultures. (And, no, I'll not say which nationality I have in the process come to dislike with a vengeance...)

yeah, snap so do I.......:)



I used too :(

Does that mean I've become proper Polish person now ?

i wouldn't say that the Polish are miserable or unhappy all the time that would be silly. However i think that there is a certain amount of (over self defensiveness and paranoid) of course its not all Polish people that would be a stupid thing to say.

I am English and have never met a Brit who is so defensive or paranoid as i have the number of Polish that are.

As for smiling, a lot of Polish its fair to say are working in customer service (Coffee shops, Hotels, Fast food restaurants and any other job you care to mention.

My friend said to me 'well if you were working sreving coffee all day and not getting paid very much, would you be smiling, that isn't even taking into consideration the board factor' of dokng the same job again and again and again'

So i sympathise totally with those who don't smile all the time and are called 'miserable' etc. Surely it makes no sense to judge anybody let alone the Polish on their moods when they are working.

My friend looks dead board at work and not friendly at all but you get her out and about and she's wonderful to be with. Everybody has different moods in different situations

You gotta be kidding there !!

yes of course there are Brits that are defensive and paranoid its just i seemed to have met a large amount of Poles who are. maybe a better way to express it is that they are more conservative :)

Torny, some British people not only are defensive and paranoid but also complain a lot........lol .

What the heck has this got to do with Nationalities.......it's just normal human nature.......


:)

totally agree, its just this thread reminded me of the 'Polish conservatism' i have seen a lot of. I usually don't pick on nation and Poland probably isn't the only one. ow what the heck never mind :)

Everyone smiles when they see a donkey because donkeys are cool.
That includes Polish people.

It's Ok Torny. I was just thinking that the French people are very serious and rarely smile........even when they are smoking and drinking a coffee and chatting.........

Unfortunately, something gets said in the UK Media and suddenly people appear to notice 'things'.........e.g. Polish people don't smile a lot. But then a lot of Europeans don't smile a lot either.......but that isn't the news that sells papers over here ,lol.

Not seen you around for some time.......has been quiet in here I think <g>

j/k........I haven't been in here much either till now !!!

- Now you're talkin', darlin'!
:)

i totally agree about the media point, i am admittedly a victim of this as the media some what seemed to have changed my mind on immigration in the last week or so, i know its only scare tactics but there are some definite facts been laid down, what annoys me though is that people like the BNP use them for their racist views and when people like me speak up about having controlled/restricted immigration i get banded with the BNP when that is in fact not the case.



well i was hanging round in the south of england last week knocking of a few tiles and throwing some chimneys of the top of houses :(, on a serious note i started back at uni last Tuesday so my visits will not be as regular as they used to be but i'm sure i'l make it spicy when i'm here :)


why?? what has changed??

Nothing :) I've just had a lot of things to do...



Lol. Not sure about the 'spicy' but certainly very 'debatable' <g>



Yeah, your views may well depend on which newspaper you read on a regular basis........then, you choose the newspaper that best fits in with your views. Having formed those views initially by what you read in the newspaper you regularly bought !!

Get it, lol.........:)

I will fetch a little irony to this topic and confess that i am usually the one that gets wrong off the polish for not smilling enough.

Although they are really bad at getting english jokes. by the time i explain it is usually dead and buried.

It's not true. I know Poles who are always smile. You must meet wrong people:)))))))))))

Every Pole I know smiles all the time, they are very optimistic and happy in life

We do too smile much. all the time no,no. sometimes has to be serious. We are happy people for a lot of time. ;-)

That's because of those notorious European bad teeth.
This is me before I've fixed my teeth:


and this is me after:

People always say I look unhappy, but maybe its my face?

Same here. People often think I'm angry or very sincere when I'm not engaged in conversation. This is just the way we Poles look. I saw somewhere on this forum, someone said that Poles try to get maximum effect from minimum effort. Why contort you're face into a smile constantly, getting wrinkles and wearing you're face out. We reserve our wonderful smiles for when we speak to people.

no my dear just put a lovely smile on that face of yours and then you will look happy :):):):):):):):):)

I think there is a general feeling here in England that the Polish are missing a bit of a smile and look of happyness sometimes, to be honest i have noticed it but not with my friends, usually those who are meant to be customer service people.

Many Poles I know do smile and have a GSOH but I have to agree that too many have dejected looks on their faces. This is a view shared by most foreigners here. I just get peeved when it becomes fashionable to have this 'mina' on u.

In my humble opinion, the good part of expression of unhappiness is due to the weather. It takes an effort to smile when you are cold and wet most of the time. Remember going for camping trips when my things and myself got soaked on the first day and got dry when returned home three weeks later.
There is also a way of telling jokes, it is considered to be a poor way of doing it if the person telling a joke laughs.
Lack of enforcement: Americans have employer enforced happiness(employers of funeral homes are excluded), it looks rather silly to me to see happy face regardless of circumstance.
Lack of a laugh track: TV programs in the anglo cultures prompt people to laugh regardless of what is being shown, I myself like to laugh when I consider things are funny.
Overall and seriously, expressions of emotions in most Slavic cultures are considered to be in poor taste.

To answer the original question...if you have ever had to LIVE in Poland you know why.

In answer to OP [even if I think I've responded to it already]

Funny, one of the Polish guys was creating most of the laughs at work today for everone around him and he was smilling and joining in the laughter :O

He's a crazy fecker [a good thing imo :D], makes me laugh non-stop when he's er..'at it'