No one likes to be judged by appearances

I was wondering how Poles are perceived by other nations so I did a quick research on the Internet. On the following website http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1027097 I have found a number of comments about Polish as such (some of you made great observation). See what people said:

"Sodding hard workers doing a very good days work for a third of the price of a locally sourced worker.I used to supervise some in a nearby store, I have also worked with some in garages etc."

"My dad's family is Polish, my mum's Ukrainian. Normally people assume we love vodka, massive portions of stodgy food, are of few words and many actions, a very blunt sense of humour and have the look of a sleazy gangster. 

Yeah...."

"Hard workers and big on family. Hypocritical with their religion. Rude in queues"

"Very religious, somewhat racist, heavy drinking, principled, hard working people who don't put up with any nonsense at all, especially the women. Also the women are hawwwt. 

They also have a pretty big chip on their shoulders when it comes to German and Russian people, but thats only to be expected really".

"I'm a quarter Polish so my family have been here since the war and are pretty much British. Fair play to the Poles that have come over since joining the EU though - a lot of Brits slag them off and claim they're here to take benefits. That couldn't be further from the truth, the Poles work incredibly hard and if every single one of them stayed it wouldn't be a bad thing - they're a lot better than certain other immigrants who DO just want to come here and live on benefits/work illegally" 

and my number one! "Rybka po grecku" still makes me giggle when I read it! :)

"I lived with Polish people in west London for 2 years, almost married one! Learned the lingo, did the wigilia at christmas eve, listened to their music (except the **** like Skaldowie!), ate the food and I note the following in general from my experiences:

1 - They are grafters, I mean 14 hours a day, 7 days a week type grafters and I never heard a pole complain about how hard the work was.

2 - They are very social, especially around Wodka (which they invented)

3 - They are generally quite religious and most Polish houses will have either a book or a photo of Pope John Paul II in it somewhere.

4 - They are quite segregatory. I would often come off the wrong end of racial discrimination due to the mistrust of the English from the Poles (did you know they consider Churchill not to be a hero but a gangster?)

5 - You can tell a Polish couple from a long way off cos the girl is hot, wearing flat comfortable shoes and carrying a primark bag and the guy is in a tracky and is "homely" looking! Try it out if you live in london!

6 - They shorten their names to completely different names to confuse you! Like Barbara is shortened to Basia (pronounced Basher) etc

7 - They produced the most beautiful woman in the world, Kasia Cerekwicka  hehe

8 - Polish women like to turn life into a massive soap opera style drama as often as possible. just when you think all is well, your polish girlfriend will turn a slightly burned Rybko po gretsku into the beginning of armageddon."

(more comments on http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1027097).

I am Polish I can say that yes, we are really hard working, very friendly over vodka, rude in queues and Polish women do like a little bit of drama lol. What I personally appreciate about Poles is the fact that they hardly ever complain and would compromise a lot to give best for their families. I guess, we are distinctively resourceful too. A typical Pole, I would say, is a McGyver kind of a guy possessing a wide range of skills including an ability to fix 99.9% of household equipment by means of a nail and hammer! I think it is very rare. I doubt if any German or French would be able to compete! lol

I don't agree about statement that we are racists or ignorant, though. We are renowned for our hospitality and friendly attitude towards those who are visiting our country. Majority of the population eagerly communicates in English which makes visitors feel comfortable and very welcome. I don't know why is that, but we like teaching visitors naughty words in Polish too! 

Religion, political views and fashion are so individual things that I would not want to comment on them.

Obviously, I am aware that among Poles, the same as in other nations, happen to be the ones who match certain stereotypes, although I would like to think that it's only a drop in the ocean.