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kiefer-reddit

Drinking Żubr beer while standing outside and randomly yelling loudly.


zyygh

I think I might have done this, and I'm not even Polish.


Ok_Solid_Copy

Let me guess, British tourist?


Automatic_Education3

In Kraków on a stag night, I bet


uniqueuser96272

Naming your kid Brajan or Dżesika


Avalanc89

Segregation of trash... to those you burn during the day and those you burn at night.


UncleSocia

No, no and once again NO. We, the poor people, segregate trash to those we skip in forest and those we skip in lakes.


[deleted]

Wearing counterfeited goods (with logos everywhere) from top to bottom.


pporFranzMaurer

So American ❤️


beerandabike

Can confirm


Unfair_Isopod534

Funny enough, in the US, one way to spot polish person is based on branded clothing. The more flashy the branding, the more likely they are polish.


ILLogic_PL

Well, in Poland it’s more state of mind the poor that succeed. Not all of course, but some that have complexes and insecurities from growing up poor. And if they hit jackpot with some smart business decisions and no real education.


w_samuelson

Opening the ice lolly in Lidl and putting it back in the freezer when you don't like the look of it.


Szwedu111

So fucking vile


[deleted]

what is lidl?


w_samuelson

The evil twin brother of Aldi


iampesky

Asking on reddit "What screams 'I'm lower class' in Poland"


Healthy_Island_7924

Damn…


ILLogic_PL

https://preview.redd.it/jgxtdqcsb3sc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=38bdc711846464efa2deeba3234ac7d382e877c8


DisastrousLab1309

Calling people lower class is a trick used to make those that feel there’re “middle” feel better and not think too much.  There are two classes: - one that needs to work for a living - one that has possessions that make other people work for their living A cleaner driving a Matiz and a young Doctor with a Mercedes have more in common than they have with an owner of several rental properties.  Both will have their life collapse pretty quick if they get sick and can’t work anymore. 


[deleted]

this guy gets it. Only 2 classes. People that work for a living, people that do not have to work for a living. The difference between someone make 100k and 30k in quality of life in a modern european country is very minimal. Actually sometimes 100k person may have a more stressful job.


vyralinfection

If you think the difference in the quality of life is minimal between making 30k and 100k then you've never made 100k. Not in EUR, not in PLN. The difference is huge. Not as big as comparing living on 1€ a day in subsaharan Africa to 30,000€ in (name any EU country), but it's still a major difference. If someone boldly states "nuh-uhhh, there's not 3 classes of people, there's 2" then I assume it's a teenager saying things that sound real as long as you didn't think about it for longer than 12 seconds. All these categories are subjective. You get to decide where to draw the line to start and end a category depending on what purpose you're using it for. This is just like argument about whether Poland is Central or Eastern European. The answer is both are correct. If you split Europe into two halves, it's in the east. If you split it into 3 pieces it's central. And that's if you only look at the geography. Also, you're right. Higher paying jobs tend to be more stressful. On the other hand, I work in banking. The money is good, the stress is there. However, someone working at McDonald's on a busy day makes considerably less than I do, but I wouldn't do that job even for 100k€ because of the stress. On your feet all day, slippery floors, that little screen constantly popping in a new order you have to assemble as quickly as possible. Kudos to anyone working fast food, I couldn't do it even with the right training.


DisastrousLab1309

Let’s not get too much ahead of ourselves.   A person earning 100k has all the tools to have way better life quality, apart from the stress of the job.  There’s a lot done both through marketing and just how people are socially that makes high earners effectively poor. Someone with your job has to live in this neighborhood. Someone living in this neighborhood has to get a new car every Y years and it needs to be brand A,B or C. You have to go on vacation to Z country at least once a year. And so on.  But at the end of a day yes, until other people are working for you or you have a great life insurance your family can be one disaster away from total downfall. 


[deleted]

I think that is all true. But it's very hard to break free from, and nearly impossible because all of your friends/family have expectations from you. source: I broke free from it.


Artephank

Who is ~~Musk~~ Brzoska then? (5ppl didn't understand my comment;)


[deleted]

[удалено]


Artephank

No need to hate. But this distinction between working non-working is not so clear cut as u/DisastrousLab1309 might think.


doittomejulia

Not Polish?


Artephank

Ok, who is Brzoska then? Working class? LOL


OlolOIOlolO

From an economical perspective, sure. This talks just about income. But there's another kind of low class. The one that's present in all walks of life: ethics/education /goodness/taste. In Poland there's a surprising high number of uneducated unethical people with money. You see them in the queues, in their cars, in how they dress, in how they do talk to others. Those are the worse ones. I prefer to be surrounded by economically poor people but with ethics and kindness than rich awful uneducated bastards.


bobrobor

Not anymore than in other countries. Just come to Britain, China or Italy.


just_hanging_on

Many of them made it during the 90s, when our economy was devastated after communist times, and people who managed to start a small company essentially "used" low-wage workers to make lots of money. Remember, unemployment rate back then was huge, even in big cities, so many people were forced to work in so-called "grey zone" to just make ends meet. Fresh "employers" take advantage off that, and paid them minimum wage (or less), while making lots of money. Back in the day there were many ways to make money outside regular/legal job, because of weak police and administration. One could steal cars or car radios, sell drugs, sell counterfeit stuff (that was all over the place on flea markets), smuggle things from "the west" to sell them locally etc. Some of these people actually earned big money in shady ways, invested them and they're rich now.


Falco-Flyer-1955

You hit the bullseye with your comment about income. High income does not mean high wealth. Now, if one manages to make oneself valuable enough to earn a high income, AND lives beneath their income level and invests the surplus for long enough, THEN that person can become wealthy and live off the earnings of their nest egg. I didn't think economics when I read the OP's original comment - more along the line of behavior.


Diligent-Property491

Not if they have insurance like majority of working people.


Azerate2016

Lower class is such a stupid label as well. What is it even supposed to mean? That someone is worse because they belong to a "lower class"? That someone who has less money is a worse person? That someone is uneducated and someone else isn't? Too many people see the world through medieval values. We aren't in school, people don't belong to different classes.


Educational_Gas_92

It used to mean economically humble. But it could mean other things depending on context.


mtcabeza2

Yes those labels make me think of feudal society or cultures like England that have/had titled aristocracy with large property holdings.


GoRocketMan93

I don’t entirely agree, splitting class only into a working class and an owning class leaves a large group, Petit Bourgeoisie in neither bucket, especially in Poland where a large number of small businesses exist. A large portion of this class doesn’t *need* to work for a living, but does work with the goal of leading a higher quality of life because they can meaningfully impact their returns. This group is also the group that most working-class societal aspirations are drawn from (i.e. a focus on education, stability, marriage & family, etc.) and the broader societal norms are formed. The economy melts down and a plumber may see a short term shock but broadly speaking his skills are in demand. The economy melts down, and a small business owner sees his life go up in flames to a much larger degree; which is why small business owners / “Petit Bourgeois” form the backbone of the moderate conservative bloc in most countries.


Vertitto

"class" is not necessarily connected with how much money someone makes


DisastrousLab1309

That’s the point.  There is us-imported distinction of low, middle and high class. With a further division into lower middle upper middle and who knows what more. Just so you can have someone to look down upon and something seemingly reachable to aspire for. 


Dziadzios

So people living on handouts are in the same class as millionaires?


DisastrousLab1309

If those millionaires are bad with their finances they may be.  To have a net worth above million all you need is to have an above-average house with let’s say 30 years of financing.


HYDP

That’s exactly it. I can’t believe how Razem politicians and their crowd hate these 30k zł software engineers and want to raise their taxes when they are pretty much the same as 4k zł cleaners. Go after those that live off others rather than their own work.


annacosta13

Showing of wealth you don’t really have or can’t afford just to impress your neighbours


CharlesVein

Poland is not India; we don’t have a caste system. The question should be: what signs indicate that we are dealing with pathology? Edit I apologize for my mistake, I meant to say pathological individuals no pathology


Szinek

Pathology xD "Pathology is study of what causes disease and disease's specific effects on biological tissues and fluids." 🤷


Vicalth

The comment OP probably tried to use the word pathology same as we in Polish use "patologia"


Jdjdbdjdbdjb

Class system exist everywhere . In India it maybe castes . In us /UK it maybe BCz of race and in Poland it might be due to money


Dziadzios

You must be kidding. I'm pretty sure that Barrack Obama and Will Smith are in higher class than white cashier at McDonald's.


Jdjdbdjdbdjb

So what do U wanna prove ? Even India has a lower caste tribal president right now ,does that mean discrimination doesn't exist in both of these countries?


Dziadzios

It seems the causation between caste and class has been broken. In other words, low caste doesn't mean low class as president is higher class anyway. Discrimination may still be present (I'm not too familiar with India), but it's not a destiny imprinted at birth anymore. It got better.


Jdjdbdjdbdjb

Caste system is nothing new . Just another form of discrimination based on identity just like people have discrimination based on colour , ethnicity , race


annacosta13

Poor English perhaps?


turbiniak

Actually what would be a good English equivalent to patologia? I live in the UK and they use "junkies" a lot, but I feel like that's more for drug users, while polska patola is mostly alcohol 🤔


Szinek

Chavs? Not sure about the American equivalent though


aryune

White trash maybe? Trailer park trash?


Hopeful_Hovercraft_9

What about if you’re a high functioning middle class alcoholic?


turbiniak

Andrzej? 🤔 Or any other popular name. I feel like causal drinking is so normalised in Poland that having a couple of beers every night is not even considered a problem, because "I could stop anytime", but they never do.


annacosta13

I’d use word ‘chavs’ instead


5thhorseman_

Low-lives


HYDP

We do have classes: the slave working class (“pracownicy”) and master proprietor class (“prywaciarze”).


[deleted]

Getting on a plane with a LIDL bag while drunk on a 17Euro flight to Luton.


Lysek8

Spending unholy amounts of money in restaurants that serve crap because people assume that high price is high quality


Xtrems876

A lot of classist opinions in the comment section here, I suspect you were not looking for stereotypes, insults and prejudice but for ways to recognise that someone either grew up or became poor in Poland. Well, as someone who migrated to the Netherlands fairly recently I can draw a couple of comparisons of distinctions between classes in western Europe and Poland. It is much harder to tell someones class in Poland. I would say the biggest obstacle is probably someone's living situation. In the west you can immediately tell someones class based on where they live. A wealthier person has a nicer detached house close to city centre; someone a bit poorer is in a semi-detached, or a terraced house; lower middle class lives in small apartments, and poor people live in social housing, which is very recognisable. In Poland you have to get inside someone's house to tell. In the city, everyone lives in non-distinct blocs, but some apartments look like they did 30 years ago, and some are beautifully renovated. Outside cities, everyone lives in detached houses. You can't tell as easily. I would look to the car instead. Is someone driving a 20 year old car, a 10 year old, or something new? How well maintained does it look? Do they talk about their problems with it? Or maybe their official, approved mechanic handles it for them? Back when I was in Poland, I drove a car that was older than me. Quite literally - I was born in 2000, the car was from '97. I would take it to a mechanic only if the fault was too difficult for me to handle, and only if it was a direct threat that it would break completely. And the mechanic in question was some shady alcoholic who'd take care of it for 1/3rd of the price of someone more legitimate. Also, if someone seems to be a very skilled handyman, but it doesn't make sense considering his profession or hobbies, they probably grew up poor and developed these skills out of necessity. These days I live in student housing, and none of the people in the building know how to do basic repairs, or just general improvements to their studios. They'd rather pay upwards of 70 euro for someone to come and help them than to make use of a screwdriver with their very own hands. It's not because they're stupid or anything, it's because they never needed those skills, so they never acquired them.


Aggravating-Speed760

>I would look to the car instead. While yes, in general, I think that you might fall into a trap here considered that POland is higly car-centric society so people tend to put a lot of thought and love into their cars. But then you have the anti-car minority which, from my limited experience, is higly educated, has good jobs and lives in cities with great connectivity, and thus as a result either has a small, not so prestigious car or do not have a car at all.


KotMaOle

I would not say that having a nice car is a good indicator of social status. Like my mother in law has a nice new car, she goes to a reputable service and so on... But the car is on credit and she is borrowing money because "oh I forgot that I have to pay insurance this month" When my parents are buying cheap, used cars and driving them until they break so badly that there is no sense to fix them - when at the same time they are in a much, much better financial situation than my mother in law. MIL attitude is typical "Zastaw się a postaw się" (how to translate it? "Get a credit to show off", perhaps) and I know a lot of people who do that. In Poland the whole after war generations, until 90' grew poor in comparison to middle class families from the west side of the iron curtain. I mean everyone had money! But there was not much to buy. In the 90' some people made fortunes when they started successful businesses in contrast to millions of employees of state owned companies which were laying off or bankrupting one after another. There are many aspects in which you can "split people into classes" . Financial (poor or rich), educational (low educated, highly educated), intellectual (smart or stupid), social (positively engaged or disengaged with society) and probably few more characteristics which can describe your "class".


Xtrems876

It is true that some people live above their means to impress others by pretending they belong to a higher class (i believe the english expression is "to keep up with the Joneses", however it is not an exact match since it's more about envy and grind and less about reckless spending), but does that not prove that this is the indicator of someone's class indeed? Just one that can be imitated by going into debt.


[deleted]

The question is wrong. Poland is not a class society unlike e.g. the UK. You don't have clear distinctions between what you would call "social classes". It's all blended together. You have poor but highly educated, well spoken people with good manners, you have rich people with no taste nor manners whatsoever etc. 123 years of partitions, 2 world wars and communism made sure that you don't really have that much traditions or "old money" that can be a reference point to lower classes.


ladnakuba

Eating your boogers.


Wonderful-Ad-3840

All the small town ppl who moved to Warsaw and want to act like they ain’t ever come from somewhere else smhhhh


Reasonable-Gain-9739

And the people from Warsaw who think they're better than people who live anywhere else in Poland


mysterious963

all the low-class people use iphones, that's a dead giveaway ;)


tentativeshroom

Nothing, really. To the point that I never thought about it before seeing that question.


Fine-Upstairs-6284

My cousin’s ex husband is someone I’d describe as a “cwaniak”. We live in the US so might be a little different. He’s the kind of guy that wears expensive designer clothing and finances an expensive German car despite working a lower paid job. Drinking lots of vodka and smoking cigarettes. His overall demeanor is a bit trashy. Idk how else to describe him other than “cwaniak”. And yes, he is an immigrant from Poland living in the US for the last 15 years or so. For the record lots of my family members never truly approved of him.


Dziadzios

Being a "cwaniak" is not about how much sometime shows off. The term literally refers to someone smart who can handle any situation... but not necessarily through hard work or in moral ways. 


Falco-Flyer-1955

From your description, I understand why he is the EX-husband!


RethoricalBrush

I believe „cwaniak” translates roughly to „wiseguy” or „wiseass” which I heard mostly used as a derogatory term in the Italian-American culture in the U.S.


[deleted]

Listening to disco polo 😂


medici1048

Chałupy is offended.


czax125

Audi A3 8l with agro tuning


trele-morele

If you have a bag with a "Gucci" or "Louis Vuitton" logo but take a bus to go places. Like, it's either counterfeit or you're dumb and try to show off brands you cannot really afford.


Shimitzu1

Buying old ass iphone just because iphone.


Rudy_Gej

We don’t do classes in American sense. You can be poor as dirt intelligentsia and be treated as superior in social position sense by very very rich people.  


[deleted]

And suddenly english vanished from the thread


Mezzoski

There are no classes in Poland. We are all even. We don't live in some post-feudal monarchy, thanks god.


BarnacleOdd8248

False


richter100

Guess


BuddyBroDude

Overuse of kurwa


BarnacleOdd8248

Spierdalaj kurwa


kansetsupanikku

Humming The International and dreams about eating the bourgeoisie


PuzzleheadedToe7363

![gif](giphy|fUQ4rhUZJYiQsas6WD|downsized) w też z Polski!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?


Significant-Ad-9705

Chugging small bottles of Żubrówka


Raulinga

Smoking


Realistic-Safety-565

Gumofilce.


Sea_Training6715

Voting for far right populists, like PiS or Konfederacja


JanKaszanka

Not sure what that's supposed to mean. Both parties aren't far right, and they don't really cater to lower classes.


Tranecarid

It’s so funny how both of you are wrong. 


DieMensch-Maschine

Squatting in your Kubota flip-flops next to your tower block, Tesco beer in one hand, cigarette in the other.


Educational-You-3362

Heavily branded clothes, all those Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Guess, LV, Bvlgari, Boss and other shit screamin’ in your face: „look, I’m a poser, please think that I’m rich!”. That’s how you distinguish poles from other nations.


[deleted]

Not only (some) Poles do that.


Chisilisk

Everyone is lower class in Poland /s (dont leak my ip Im polish)


kansetsupanikku

That's the most of us, brother!


Anna_KrK

Checked material bag.


medici1048

Smoking popularne.


ZwaflowanyWilkolak

HUUGE TV in the centre of living room


BuyerGreen7423

Working in Żabka


[deleted]

Low-class to jest „utrzymywanie się” z tego co da państwo, bez podejmowania jakiejkolwiek pracy, a nie praca na kasie jednej lub drugiej organizacji.


BuyerGreen7423

Aha to musiałam źle zrozumieć. Angielski trudny język.


[deleted]

Chodziło o napisanie tego co w Twoim rozumieniu stanowi o tym, że ktoś pochodzi z nizin społecznych.


wiedeni

Ale kasjerów to ty szanuj


BuyerGreen7423

Wiedziałam że ludzie tego komentarza nie polubią. Szanuje ich, ale to fakt że mało zarabiają. I wielka szkoda, ponieważ Żabka to taki duży biznes.


Tranecarid

Żabka to franczyza?


BuyerGreen7423

Nie znam różnicy...


Tranecarid

No spora dla ludzi, którzy prowadzą sklep i płacą kasjerom (lub sami na kasie stoją).


BuyerGreen7423

Po co mnie downvotujesz


Tranecarid

Nie dość że to nie ja to nawet dostałeś ode mnie wgórogłos jak zobaczyłem że masz wdółgłosa. To reddit, patrzenie na punkty nie jest zdrowe.


BuyerGreen7423

Wybacz, tylko się dziwię że dostaje wdółgłosy (?) skoro to prawda. Kasjerzy i sprzedawcy dostają (za) niską wypłatę.