Posted on 07/05/2006 12:27:11 PM PDT by lizol
Polite Warsaw
05.07.2006
Warsaw may not be one of the safest places in the world to live in but at least its residents are among the most polite people, shows a survey conducted worldwide by the Reader’s Digest monthly.
This report by Michal Zajac.
The research was carried out in 35 countries and its goal was to check how courteous people living in different parts of the globe are in everyday situations. Anna Esden-Tempska, editor-in-chief of Reader’s Digest Poland, explains how people’s behaviour and manners were tested for the sake of the survey.
‘We created three types of simple situations to see how people would act: we wanted to see if they hold the door so that it doesn’t hit the person behind you, if they say ‘thank you’, having bought something and if they help someone in the street who has dropped some papers. In case of Warsaw the results were surprising and people behaved more politely than we generally think.’
And how are Varsovians doing in this respect in comparison to the residents of other cities in the world?
‘In the end Warsaw ranked fifth out of all 35 locations in the world. The residents of New York seem to be the most courteous. Also more polite than Varsovians are people living in Zurich, Berlin and Zagreb.’
The results of the research may be surprising – at least to those who live in the Polish capital, are always in a hurry and may have no time to think about good manners. Still, foreigners coming to Poland do notice that Varsovians are kind and helpful. What they say the people living here lack are smiling faces.
The people in Cracow were really nice when I was there, too.
I have no doubt people in Warsaw, and Poles in general, are polite, especially if they're anything like the loveable-but-dishonest Ukrainians.
When I was in Kiev, it actually got to be bothersome; many times I simply wished directions to some place, and the Kievan would insist upon accompanying me there, so as to be sure I would get there.
Of course, I didn't know Ukrainian (or Russian), and the Kievan usually didn't know English, but because I can't hear anyway, it worked out.
On our recent pilgrimage our bus stopped for directions in place in Warsaw, to Nielpokalanow, in Krakow, in south Poland -- always we were treated with kindness and given some kind of directions (sometimes -- nearly correct and our tour guide who was Polish and the driver who was German could pick up hints and eventually get us there.
Likewise when we asked to have Mass in a chapel at Czestochowa to the Divine Mercy Shrine to the birthplace of John Paul II we were always treated with open arms and usually had Mass within 19 minutes.
This also happened at Our Lady Victorious, the home of the Infant of Prague in Czech Republic.
All I can say on behalf of our tour group is "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Something tells me that their process was flawed....
--in place in Warsaw,
to places in Warsaw,
If the people in Warsaw are those who are the most polite than the people in Kraków are those that are the most romantic. When I have been the first time in Kraków in 1989 I noticed really a unusual number of men with flowers. The Kraków women and girls must be happy...
:-)
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