A Polish Girl in America

The American Enterprise Online ^ | 8/17/05 | Olga Walendziak

[ladyjane]

Some of the things Olga says just don't ring true. Anybody else out there wondering if a young Polish girl wrote this?

[John O]

There was a Freeper, whose name unfortunately escapes me, who became terminally ill. I remember him saying that one of the last things he wanted to accomplish was to get his software business up and running. This is a profoundly American thing to do. Like many Americans, he believed that commerce in general and his work in particular was something valuable to society, not something to escape from the way Europeans treat it.

I think you are referring to harpseal. Laz, do I have this right?

[John O]

FYI

[A. Pole]

harpseal, his home page is on

[Lazamataz]

Yes, it was harpseal. I was actually working with him on that software company. Unfortunately, the company died with him. :o(

[Aquinasfan]

And so is in Polish ("miliard"), and so might be in almost any other language :)

I gotta lie down. ;-)

[lizol]

Hmmm ... the last line of the article says "Olga Walendziak lives in Warsaw, Poland".
She lives there now, so maybe she grew up in some other country? :-)))

And seriously - this is some total BS.
Politics actually is one of the main topics of Poles' discussions.
I can agree that it's not common to ask what someone's religion is, but not because it would be considered as some kind of faux pas. It simply makes no sense, because the answer usually would be Roman Catholic.
But if there are any "directions", that someone is not Roman Catholic - I wouldn't see any problem to ask such a person what is his (her) religion.

[RockinRight]

Olga, welcome to America.

If you choose to stay and become a citizen, I'll also gladly welcome you to the Republican Party where you'll feel right at home.

[RockinRight]

Compared to Europe, what she said is 150% true.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Another surprise was political correctness. I heard about how careful you have to be in America not to insult racial or sexual minorities, and that even mentioning them in a neutral way can be considered offensive...

When British turncoat spy and flamboyant homosexual Guy Burgess was posted to a diplomatic position in Washington in the 1950's, he was warned that three topics are taboo in the U.S: race, homosexuality and Communism. "So, I mustn't make a pass at Paul Robeson.", he quipped.

He was sent home after being stopped by a Virginia State Trooper, drunk with a teen aged boy in his convertible Cadillac.

[warsaw44]

Wonderful article! Here in the US if my pals and I want to give each other grief in a friendly way we insult their work ethic.
" What'd you do today besides sleep in front of the computer "
" You taking ANOTHER vacation - damn, you are lazy "
" You put in your usual 3 hours of work today?"
But in truth each one of us works a huge number of hours each week, many of us have built our own small business and enjoy working. In the States you really can get ahead with a strong work ethic no matter what your background is.

If you really wanted to insult someone around here - make a serious and snide comment about their work ethic...that doesn't go over well at all.

[stolat]

If you enjoy what you do for a living it will not kill you. It enables you, Sto Lat, A. Pole!!

[Textide]

I like this girl.

Once dated a Swiss girl that had only been in the US for a couple of months. On walks she'd ask why I would wave and greet everyone that passed us by (in a small town). I asked her, "Why not?". It doesn't cost anything to be nice, and the reward of seeing the other person smile at being on the receiving end of courtesy is satisfying. She liked that and adopted the practice.

[doug from upland]

Despite the nasty Democrats, maybe more people are nice in DC right now because the Republicans are in charge and there are more Republicans working in the district.

When I went to the Inauguration in January, I got my ticket for the subway and realized about two minutes later that I left my gloves where I got my ticket. By the time the escalator got to the bottom and then got back up, it was probably five minutes.

It was amazing. Someone turned in my gloves. Then I thought, no it wasn't amazing. This is Inauguration Day. The DemocRATS have all left town, and the Republicans are overwhelming the town. It should be expected that the gloves would be turned in. (fortunately, they were not found by any of the lowlife protestors)

[Clock King]

Yet when I went to the movies to see Hustle & Flow, a movie about rap music, ...

This is what Hollywood Liberals (racists that they are) think of black people. Most black people hate movies like this and condemn them. Like we did with that Snoop Dogg movie, Soul Plane. But Hollywood keeps presenting these evil images of Black people to the world.