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WHITE TRASH DON'T TRAVEL (2008)
Driving on Route 9 through the Brookfields never seems the same. I notice something new every time, and this time, I noticed a brook. It was there for twenty something years, I believe, but I never knew it existed. It might have been because of the trees obstructing the view or, snow, or at other times, Jacek was driving, and I must have been reading or was simply too busy to take notice.
Others may not notice at all, pay no attention or just drive too fast.
And if I had to describe that brook to someone in Poland in the best way possible, I couldn't be sure that the image was translated exactly to the point.
And as you may already know, everything looks different if you look at it from another angle.
So does our Polish(ness) to those who… live in Poland. THEY dine on original Polish home grown food. WE have Millie's "pierogis" from the local supermarket. THEY are those who know their history and culture the best, WE are Poland's ambassadors. THEY can touch history each day by walking along the medieval walls, or hearing the same gothic bells, although WE have the advantage of seeing it from a different perspective. That's a plus - I'm still sure of it.
Last week, I had an "exchange of words" with T.,a fellow who got angry with me, because to him, I represented … that dreadful Europe. It happened to me several times before, but with different people, yet the same "accusations." I thought it was strange, because the American press rarely includes Poland on their maps, or in Europe's related articles (It does, however, miraculously appear on their radar when the subject of the Holocaust
pops up.). Here is this guy, who blames me for all the evil that supposedly happened to the US because of Europe (?) and I have the audacity to feel no shame or respect to the great American nation, or so I was told.
That Europe - where they hate us. The cradle of all wars.
Yet it was Europe that awarded Martin Luther King Jr. the Nobel Prize in 1964, before he was... assassinated in his homeland in 1968.
It was 1989 when Poland defeated Communism and opened the Central and Eastern European markets to the US. However in 2008, the US still demands visas from Poles.
60 years after WWII and 20 years after the fall of Communism, and the US presence in Western Europe has less to do with Europe's security and more with the US military industry and its lobby.
The Cold War ended – however, we just need to convince the future Central and Eastern European clients that the threat from Iran and North Korea is real, and that they need to install OUR anti-missile shields. As soon as we can convince them, we are back in business. So, that evil Europe - ain't that bad after all...
According to T. his opinion on collective farms, Poland's economy or history is the "right one." His knowledge is accurate since he was brought up in a free country, and I was not. With a few history related questions, I checked that "knowledge" and found it undoubtedly lacking understanding of the true situation in pre, during, and post war Poland. Some of the world's events like Yalta skipped his memory to make a room for revelations such as the US freeing millions of Poles from Nazi terror. "You Europeans should thank us for it." It seemed that his problem was more with the French, but since there were no French persons anywhere nearby, I somehow represented the old evil.
Whatever happens between you and the French stays between you and French. I can speak for Polish people, and I reminded him that Poland did not benefit from the Marshall Plan and what he called "liberation," to millions of Poles was just the beginning of another chapter in Poland's long fight for independence.
This guy repeated the same old stereotypes that I heard many times before. I could ignore it again … and again, but if I have to be part of this great nation, I should have the right to speak up. And he should realize that war may be a different experience to different people.
There are times when Poland, according to some, is this backwards agricultural country. On other occasions, as needed, when talk stirs to the subject of pollution, it is suddenly heavily industrialized. Either way it is negative, so I can never figure out which one it is.
Quite often, pointing out Polish Catholicism sounds more like an accusation. However, it does not bother the accusers, at the same time to call Poland … Communist and hoping that the average reader won't know the difference.
It's bad - we got that point.
What is certain is that Poland is full of contradictions. So trying to stereotype it should be a very difficult task unless … your intentions aren't sincere.
Once I was approached by another "know it all," a local "pain in the rear end" guy, Lindsey S. He asked me why Polish people never organize and never fight, and he meant during wartime. I began to choke, so I needed to take a deep breath. I then started telling him about Poland being partitioned for 125 years but fighting vigorously, regaining independence for only a short period of time, before being simultaneously attacked from the West and from the East. The explanation became too confusing to him, because I entered some forbidden territory - the taboos that he was not familiar with. I guess he expected me to fit all that into a "one sentence" answer, so I just rolled my eyes and let him go back to his hot dog and beans.
The idea of Hitler invading Poland, because he wanted to kill all Jews seems so much more logical and easier to digest.
When talking to my American girlfriends, I have to be careful what I say because they often misunderstand. When asked about my (Polish) husband's habits, some look for any hint of Tennessee Williams' "Stan Kowalski" to justify the stereotype. No, his mother did not spoil him, nor does he drink, or have an aggressive side. Once I mentioned that my cousin was pregnant, and the quick response was: "You Catholics have so many children." No, it was her first pregnancy and average Polish couple has 1 child. When I mention that black Americans are amongst the players in Poland's basketball league, someone said "they cannot be any good then."
Americans like to call themselves the champions of the world although they never compete with anybody else but … themselves. I try to imagine an Italian or Norwegian team, any team, calling itself the best in Europe without playing against any other European teams.
I bet we also cause some confusion by not being extremely fat or hopelessly stupid. We do eat kapusniak and pierogi, but that's not all we eat. On holidays, when we stack up on Polish food, my daughter snacks on mushrooms or pickles in brine as if there was no tomorrow and my son overdoses on horseradish at times. But besides that, we are very open to other types of cuisine… just like other Poles are.
At Christmastime, my friend Carol, tries to please me by saying: "We are going to have kapusta and pierogi." Then she says the same thing at Easter. Carol, Easter requires a different menu…oh well…
Can you get me some kielbasa? Which one? Oh - so there is more than one??
Those stereotypes may be the reason why young Polish Americans are sometimes drawn away from "Polish culture" as we know it. What seemed appealing back then, to our parents or grandparents does not appear so attractive to 20 or 30 year olds. We must start thinking about other links that bind us together. And if you think that polka festivals will be that bond, connecting us with the younger generations of Polish Americans, you are wrong.
It does not even tie us with other Polonias around the world. It is an exclusively Polish-American tradition. And it has nothing to do with Poland either.
I can just hear my opponents grinding their teeth. Bury this newspaper in a jar in your backyard, and see for yourself in 20 years.
So start reinventing yourself to the newer generation of Polish Americans. Find the connection. For the Jews, it is the Holocaust. For us, it could be history in general with the Polish Holocaust being part of it.
Our children and grandchildren somehow have to find a way to the country of their ancestors and discover Poland on their own. Your job is to encourage them to take that trip and maybe even study there. Learn the true culture from the experts, and touch the history... They can shed their discomfort of discrimination while having the experience of their life.
That 420,000 Poles living in the UK already look at things differently, and when they return, they may bring back not just money, but their experiences and another perspective.
Our son, Francis, a student in Warsaw now, one day while riding a taxi, exchanged some opinions with the taxi driver. And he suddenly realized that this man shared our views on Poland's economy, US politics, media etc. The reason? He lived in Germany for a while.
The longer I live, the more I come to the conclusion that, despite our different origins and paths that lead us to this point, all people are the same. I found many many friends here, intelligent, who, even if not quite knowledgeable about the Polish "side of the story," at least allow themselves to listen to unknown facts about the war times. And then there are others whose idea about the rest of the world is minimized to a few stereotypes. Those are the ones who have an answer for everything. TV stations, press prepared them with all the "right" answers. They knew why you were going to say it even before you said it.
You become what the media has already prepared for you: labeled, and you are expected to follow it or at least don’t do anything radical to shake it. On your arrival, you are boxed. So what, that the times changed everywhere else, here it all stays the same. We never noticed that this 20s dance polka has (in Poland) past long time ago, and made a way to foxtrot, tango, cha-cha and so on. For many Americans, it is WE who move ahead while the rest of the world stands still.
It is true that some of us do not represent Poland well, with required respect. We have scum among us, oh yes, we do! but we are not any different from other ethnic groups. Poles in Poland blame Polonia for a bad image overseas, and we intend to blame the government abroad.
Quite the contrary, for obvious reasons, the American abroad was often a tourist and not an immigrant worker. Until now, Europeans encountered only those Americans who had money. In 1985-86, when the dollar value was the highest, and our family lived in Germany, we witnessed how many Americans were buying and shipping German luxury goods to the US. And when Europeans travel to US, they never wander off to the areas where poor Americans live.
Just as American media does not show how the rich in Mexico, Puerto Rico or Poland live. Forget rich Poles, as we never even see... average Poles.
It may all change with the dollar losing its value with such speed: $1.57 for Euro,
$1 is worth 2.19 Polish zloty. Those of us who travel already know it.
I do not think T. understands it. He rarely leaves his house.
Since Poles, on almost every level, are so used to migrating, what others see is the whole range of characters including the poorest, the noble and the scoundrel. The Polish poor seek a change, because they know there is a better life awaiting them somewhere. They may come to change their mind later on but at least they tried. Our, American, homegrown poor may migrate only from state to state. As a little boy, our son asked, "Why do we say, God bless America? Why not other countries?" It occurred to him only because he had already traveled outside the US. Other kids probably did not, and such a question never came to their mind.
"God made me special," says a quote above the bed of one of the kids that I know.
Again, why me? What about everybody else?
The longer I live here, the more I'm sure that people here or there are the same.
The only difference is that Americans are told over and over about the greatness of their nation. They won't see their weaknesses or faults, and even if they are miserable in their trailer parks, they won't seek a better life anywhere else. See, Poland's so called "white trash" does not sit still: they travel, and ours does not.
Where to? This is heaven on Earth after all.
Driving on Route 9 through the Brookfields never seems the same. I notice something new every time, and this time, I noticed a brook. It was there for twenty something years, I believe, but I never knew it existed. It might have been because of the trees obstructing the view or, snow, or at other times, Jacek was driving, and I must have been reading or was simply too busy to take notice.
Others may not notice at all, pay no attention or just drive too fast.
And if I had to describe that brook to someone in Poland in the best way possible, I couldn't be sure that the image was translated exactly to the point.
And as you may already know, everything looks different if you look at it from another angle.
So does our Polish(ness) to those who… live in Poland. THEY dine on original Polish home grown food. WE have Millie's "pierogis" from the local supermarket. THEY are those who know their history and culture the best, WE are Poland's ambassadors. THEY can touch history each day by walking along the medieval walls, or hearing the same gothic bells, although WE have the advantage of seeing it from a different perspective. That's a plus - I'm still sure of it.
Last week, I had an "exchange of words" with T.,a fellow who got angry with me, because to him, I represented … that dreadful Europe. It happened to me several times before, but with different people, yet the same "accusations." I thought it was strange, because the American press rarely includes Poland on their maps, or in Europe's related articles (It does, however, miraculously appear on their radar when the subject of the Holocaust
pops up.). Here is this guy, who blames me for all the evil that supposedly happened to the US because of Europe (?) and I have the audacity to feel no shame or respect to the great American nation, or so I was told.
That Europe - where they hate us. The cradle of all wars.
Yet it was Europe that awarded Martin Luther King Jr. the Nobel Prize in 1964, before he was... assassinated in his homeland in 1968.
It was 1989 when Poland defeated Communism and opened the Central and Eastern European markets to the US. However in 2008, the US still demands visas from Poles.
60 years after WWII and 20 years after the fall of Communism, and the US presence in Western Europe has less to do with Europe's security and more with the US military industry and its lobby.
The Cold War ended – however, we just need to convince the future Central and Eastern European clients that the threat from Iran and North Korea is real, and that they need to install OUR anti-missile shields. As soon as we can convince them, we are back in business. So, that evil Europe - ain't that bad after all...
According to T. his opinion on collective farms, Poland's economy or history is the "right one." His knowledge is accurate since he was brought up in a free country, and I was not. With a few history related questions, I checked that "knowledge" and found it undoubtedly lacking understanding of the true situation in pre, during, and post war Poland. Some of the world's events like Yalta skipped his memory to make a room for revelations such as the US freeing millions of Poles from Nazi terror. "You Europeans should thank us for it." It seemed that his problem was more with the French, but since there were no French persons anywhere nearby, I somehow represented the old evil.
Whatever happens between you and the French stays between you and French. I can speak for Polish people, and I reminded him that Poland did not benefit from the Marshall Plan and what he called "liberation," to millions of Poles was just the beginning of another chapter in Poland's long fight for independence.
This guy repeated the same old stereotypes that I heard many times before. I could ignore it again … and again, but if I have to be part of this great nation, I should have the right to speak up. And he should realize that war may be a different experience to different people.
There are times when Poland, according to some, is this backwards agricultural country. On other occasions, as needed, when talk stirs to the subject of pollution, it is suddenly heavily industrialized. Either way it is negative, so I can never figure out which one it is.
Quite often, pointing out Polish Catholicism sounds more like an accusation. However, it does not bother the accusers, at the same time to call Poland … Communist and hoping that the average reader won't know the difference.
It's bad - we got that point.
What is certain is that Poland is full of contradictions. So trying to stereotype it should be a very difficult task unless … your intentions aren't sincere.
Once I was approached by another "know it all," a local "pain in the rear end" guy, Lindsey S. He asked me why Polish people never organize and never fight, and he meant during wartime. I began to choke, so I needed to take a deep breath. I then started telling him about Poland being partitioned for 125 years but fighting vigorously, regaining independence for only a short period of time, before being simultaneously attacked from the West and from the East. The explanation became too confusing to him, because I entered some forbidden territory - the taboos that he was not familiar with. I guess he expected me to fit all that into a "one sentence" answer, so I just rolled my eyes and let him go back to his hot dog and beans.
The idea of Hitler invading Poland, because he wanted to kill all Jews seems so much more logical and easier to digest.
When talking to my American girlfriends, I have to be careful what I say because they often misunderstand. When asked about my (Polish) husband's habits, some look for any hint of Tennessee Williams' "Stan Kowalski" to justify the stereotype. No, his mother did not spoil him, nor does he drink, or have an aggressive side. Once I mentioned that my cousin was pregnant, and the quick response was: "You Catholics have so many children." No, it was her first pregnancy and average Polish couple has 1 child. When I mention that black Americans are amongst the players in Poland's basketball league, someone said "they cannot be any good then."
Americans like to call themselves the champions of the world although they never compete with anybody else but … themselves. I try to imagine an Italian or Norwegian team, any team, calling itself the best in Europe without playing against any other European teams.
I bet we also cause some confusion by not being extremely fat or hopelessly stupid. We do eat kapusniak and pierogi, but that's not all we eat. On holidays, when we stack up on Polish food, my daughter snacks on mushrooms or pickles in brine as if there was no tomorrow and my son overdoses on horseradish at times. But besides that, we are very open to other types of cuisine… just like other Poles are.
At Christmastime, my friend Carol, tries to please me by saying: "We are going to have kapusta and pierogi." Then she says the same thing at Easter. Carol, Easter requires a different menu…oh well…
Can you get me some kielbasa? Which one? Oh - so there is more than one??
Those stereotypes may be the reason why young Polish Americans are sometimes drawn away from "Polish culture" as we know it. What seemed appealing back then, to our parents or grandparents does not appear so attractive to 20 or 30 year olds. We must start thinking about other links that bind us together. And if you think that polka festivals will be that bond, connecting us with the younger generations of Polish Americans, you are wrong.
It does not even tie us with other Polonias around the world. It is an exclusively Polish-American tradition. And it has nothing to do with Poland either.
I can just hear my opponents grinding their teeth. Bury this newspaper in a jar in your backyard, and see for yourself in 20 years.
So start reinventing yourself to the newer generation of Polish Americans. Find the connection. For the Jews, it is the Holocaust. For us, it could be history in general with the Polish Holocaust being part of it.
Our children and grandchildren somehow have to find a way to the country of their ancestors and discover Poland on their own. Your job is to encourage them to take that trip and maybe even study there. Learn the true culture from the experts, and touch the history... They can shed their discomfort of discrimination while having the experience of their life.
That 420,000 Poles living in the UK already look at things differently, and when they return, they may bring back not just money, but their experiences and another perspective.
Our son, Francis, a student in Warsaw now, one day while riding a taxi, exchanged some opinions with the taxi driver. And he suddenly realized that this man shared our views on Poland's economy, US politics, media etc. The reason? He lived in Germany for a while.
The longer I live, the more I come to the conclusion that, despite our different origins and paths that lead us to this point, all people are the same. I found many many friends here, intelligent, who, even if not quite knowledgeable about the Polish "side of the story," at least allow themselves to listen to unknown facts about the war times. And then there are others whose idea about the rest of the world is minimized to a few stereotypes. Those are the ones who have an answer for everything. TV stations, press prepared them with all the "right" answers. They knew why you were going to say it even before you said it.
You become what the media has already prepared for you: labeled, and you are expected to follow it or at least don’t do anything radical to shake it. On your arrival, you are boxed. So what, that the times changed everywhere else, here it all stays the same. We never noticed that this 20s dance polka has (in Poland) past long time ago, and made a way to foxtrot, tango, cha-cha and so on. For many Americans, it is WE who move ahead while the rest of the world stands still.
It is true that some of us do not represent Poland well, with required respect. We have scum among us, oh yes, we do! but we are not any different from other ethnic groups. Poles in Poland blame Polonia for a bad image overseas, and we intend to blame the government abroad.
Quite the contrary, for obvious reasons, the American abroad was often a tourist and not an immigrant worker. Until now, Europeans encountered only those Americans who had money. In 1985-86, when the dollar value was the highest, and our family lived in Germany, we witnessed how many Americans were buying and shipping German luxury goods to the US. And when Europeans travel to US, they never wander off to the areas where poor Americans live.
Just as American media does not show how the rich in Mexico, Puerto Rico or Poland live. Forget rich Poles, as we never even see... average Poles.
It may all change with the dollar losing its value with such speed: $1.57 for Euro,
$1 is worth 2.19 Polish zloty. Those of us who travel already know it.
I do not think T. understands it. He rarely leaves his house.
Since Poles, on almost every level, are so used to migrating, what others see is the whole range of characters including the poorest, the noble and the scoundrel. The Polish poor seek a change, because they know there is a better life awaiting them somewhere. They may come to change their mind later on but at least they tried. Our, American, homegrown poor may migrate only from state to state. As a little boy, our son asked, "Why do we say, God bless America? Why not other countries?" It occurred to him only because he had already traveled outside the US. Other kids probably did not, and such a question never came to their mind.
"God made me special," says a quote above the bed of one of the kids that I know.
Again, why me? What about everybody else?
The longer I live here, the more I'm sure that people here or there are the same.
The only difference is that Americans are told over and over about the greatness of their nation. They won't see their weaknesses or faults, and even if they are miserable in their trailer parks, they won't seek a better life anywhere else. See, Poland's so called "white trash" does not sit still: they travel, and ours does not.
Where to? This is heaven on Earth after all.
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