Some people!! (mini-rant alert!)

[the.fee.fairy]

Tonight, i was sitting at home knitting when my dad came in from the pub.

He had with him a bloke that he'd found down the road crying his eyes out! He's polish and lives next door (he's not the noisy one...) and he'd been to the local and the people there were so nasty to him and bullied him so much that he came home in tears.

Why do people find this acceptable behaviour? The poor bloke was standing in the middle of the street crying because he'd been given such a hard time. Dad invited him in for a cup of coffee and the poor bloke started crying again and he was obviously quite embarrassed.

What i don't get is why the people in the local thought it was ok to goad a bloke that much. it actually makes me really really angry. Why bully and dig a person so much that they go home from a quiet drink in tears? Its just so horrible!

Gah! I just wanted to rant..thankyou for listening!

[possum]

I have lived in Poland and speak polish (not of polish decent). In the UK poles are seen as people taking british jobs, not really true as the tend to take jobs that most brits would not bother to do, they are hard working and tend to have high moral standards.
However having lived in the country they can come accross as "we were badly done to in the war, so your country should sort out our problems" That attitude is not good and does get my back up a little, but just to pick on someone because they started out life on a different piece of land is stupid. I am an immigrant, but I am legally here and I expect to get the same treatment as those here from birth.

[Millymollymandy]

Slightly different for you Possum because you would have gone through a load of red tape in order to be allowed into NZ! In Europe technically we can all just move around and live and work in each other's countries.....

There does seem to be an enormous influx of eastern Europeans in the UK these days, and apparently Portuguese too. (I was amazed to see leaflets in Portuguese in my mum's doctor's surgery!!! ). Whether this is good or bad I do not know but is it any different from in the 50s when everyone was having a go at the West Indians, or the Pakistanis/Indians? Why do people seem a bit more shocked that people can be racist about people who also have white skins?

[contadina]

There's no excuse for racism full stop. Sadly so many people like a scapegoat they can blame all of societies ills. Peoples prejudices are fed by alarmist claptrap of the 'they're taking our jobs' and 'committing all the crime' variety.

The amount of expats we've met (and ensure we never met again) who say they have moved here from the UK or France to get away from immigrants, is quite shocking. None of them, see themselves as immigrants, if they do, then they are the right sort of immigrants, so it's okay. When challenged, all deny they are racists. All are typical home-counties Daily Mail readers who have made no attempts to integrate over here but feel quite justified to spout their nonsense about how England has gone to the dogs as it's awash with immigrants.

[possum]

Slightly different for you Possum because you would have gone through a load of red tape in order to be allowed into NZ! In Europe technically we can all just move around and live and work in each other's countries.....

tue for NZ, but working in Poland I could work there with no work visa required at all. Obviously I was not doing it for the money, but I was taking a job that some poles could have filled.

Whilst living in the UK I could not care less where a person came from, my pet hate was the brits who lived off the state and had not worked in years.

[ina]

There does seem to be an enormous influx of eastern Europeans in the UK these days

It's actually getting a lot less - and there are already voices warning we'll be short of well trained plumbers, builders etc very soon... Nevermind short of anybody willing to pick all our fruit and pack our veg!

But apart from that - racism is inexcusable. Whatever your experience with other members of that particular race were. But most of these people who are racist have, I believe, very little experience with other cultures...

Fee - good on your dad to invite this man in. Most people, even if they didn't join in any racist acts, would have just looked away.

[John Headstrong]

the "poles taking our jobs" really gets to me.

I used to work at the new deal unit (training long term unemployed in IT,job interview skills, finding them jobs or training placements) , one day the some clients where slagging off the polish people outside that where mowing the grass and trimming the hedges.

"look at them taking our jobs" said one of the clients
so I replyed "I know the governor of that company, he is looking for more staff he has just got some huge contracts, I can set up a interview for next week if you are interested, i'll put in a good word"

"er. no, I dont think I can handle working outside" said one
"no way, I couldn't do that sort of work" said another.


none of the group wanted the jobs and the funny thing is I didn't know the governor of that company, I just said it to see if they wanted the work.

polish that make it to the UK want to work, the lazy ones are to lazy to leave the country.

[Shirley]

Poor man - good on your dad for taking him in for a cuppa and kind words.

Why do people seem a bit more shocked that people can be racist about people who also have white skins?

Not surprised at that at all - just always disappointed in my fellow humans when I hear of any kind of discrimination whether it's racial, sexual, age or class or whatever.

[Russian Doll]

i think thats lovely of your dad to do that...im against racism full stop but i can understand why people can get antsy


for e.g round here immagrants get housing before us to be blunt......

so i can understand why people get angry but the anger should be centred to the goverment who puts these pilcys in place and not them

[Clara]

The amount of expats we've met (and ensure we never met again) who say they have moved here from the UK or France to get away from immigrants, is quite shocking. None of them, see themselves as immigrants, if they do, then they are the right sort of immigrants, so it's okay. When challenged, all deny they are racists. All are typical home-counties Daily Mail readers who have made no attempts to integrate over here but feel quite justified to spout their nonsense about how England has gone to the dogs as it's awash with immigrants.

Oh god yes, I know them so well......same sort who reckon anyone "foreign" ought to speak the queen´s english at home in unabashed hypocrisy that they can barely order a coffee in Spanish.

[mybarnconversion]

I think the media and government have a lot to answer for in determining peoples opinions...

Some of the government policies are crazy ... the whole thing about Eastern Europeans claiming benefits for dependants not even in the country and sending them home is bound to infuriate people. Whatever the truth of this situation the media then picks up on it and feeds the xenophobia ... madness!

[Wombat]

But apart from that - racism is inexcusable. Whatever your experience with other members of that particular race were. But most of these people who are racist have, I believe, very little experience with other cultures...

Fee - good on your dad to invite this man in. Most people, even if they didn't join in any racist acts, would have just looked away.

What Ina Said!

Nev

[baldowrie]

even going north of the border in the UK incites racist comments from some.

My mothers neighbours praised, yes praised, the Rangers fans for attacking that policeman because.....


HE WAS ENGLISH

[mrsflibble]

I am all for the peace and love, and I think what your dad did was fantastic Fee. sometimes it only takes one person to notice you're alive to keep you from the brink of utter desperation.

We have a large polish community round here, but they're largely ignored from what I can gather. In basildon it's the muslims who get more stick; my favorite cafe recently had to remove a sign from their window after a speight of attacks on the building. the sign said "halal food served here". It's now been changed from a big happy sign to a tiny little one where only the regulars really get to see it.

[Brij]

I study in Southampton (which, as I understand has the highest proportions of Polish people and students in the UK) and most of the "natives" are disgustingly discriminatory.

However, after spending my year "integrating" out here, I am now finding myself thinking discriminatory things about Brits! (I've promised myself I can avoid English boyfriends from now on... but that's another story)

However, of course, it is totally out of order that that poor man had to go home in tears like that.