Wednesday, August 11, 2010

One for the road

It's apparently very rude to tell a Pole that they drink too much or heavily, one of those interesting factoids where different people from different nations can cause offence if you aren't careful. others can be

:: Winking is considered a rude gesture in Hong Kong.
:: The Chinese are very suspicious - talking about poverty, failure or death could cause offence.
:: Visitors from the United Arab Emirates don't take kindly to being bossed around.
:: When accepting thanks, Koreans will typically say "No, no." The remark should be interpreted as "You are welcome".
:: The term "Poms", which is used by Australians and New Zealanders, is a term of endearment, rather than a insult.
:: Snapping your fingers in the presence of a Belgian is regarded as impolite.

Well according to Sky anyway, though they say British, they are apparently talking about the English as this is the London Olympics being held up as a potential embarrassment.
That's as maybe, doesn't seem to stop foreigners telling us what to do or how to behave, though it seems harder to actually insult an English person by gestures, mostly because we tend not to recognise the obscene when it's thrown in our face, or merely find it funny.
That said, there is the case today of a Polish driver really having a drink problem.

Express.

LORRY DRIVER SPILLS 25,000 BOTTLES OF BEER

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A LORRY driver spilled 25,000 bottles of beer over a busy highway as he led police on a wild goose chase.
Driver Krzystof Lewandowski, 44, was trying to dodge police in Chojnice, Poland, who had clocked him speeding, when he took the exit too quickly and flipped his truck.
 
Police spent hours clearing up the mess while keeping other motorists away from trying to salvage the wreck.
 
One officer told the Austrian Times: "People were convinced there must be some unbroken bottles but it was too dangerous to let them look. There was broken glass everywhere."
Typical cops keeping people away from salvaging something, wonder how the party at the local station went though :-D