The subway and the 'chewing gum' attitude

On the surface this post is about a ridiculous announcement I hear a few times a day. But it really is about something completely different.

I take the subway very often – every day – sometimes even a few times a day. And each and every time when the train approaches either the Dworzec Gdanski or the Central station I get GOOSEBUMPS! And each and every time I roll my eyes, sigh and get agitated - let's face it - I just cannot get over it!

And maybe it's because I know English pretty well, maybe because I am a trained phonetician, or maybe just because I like quality. QUALITY is the key here. But it seems many people lack this idea in their every day life - at work, at home, even at a party. And that hurts! That is the way our country works. I call it a

'let's-stick-it-with-chewing-gum' attitude

= let's do something so it LOOKS more less OK. If it falls off - well, not our problem - someone else will have to take care of it. The attitude brings only frustration, pointlessness, reluctance to get involved in anything that's good for the society. Pity!! Huuuuge pity!! Because Poles have an enormous potential to achieve amazing goals. But somehow, they don't use it. 'They' intended.

OK,  I guess I should explain the issue in more detail:

so, the announcement. It's an ordinary message for passengers. And even the fact that there are two people reading one short message doesn't make it half as strange as the 'English' pronunciation of the speaker. Quotes intended.

I recorded it. I even did a phonetic analysis to prove I'm right (it did!!). The announcement sounds pathetic. On a deeper level it simply embarrasses us in front of thousands (or even millions!) of foreigners visiting our country. We only have ONE subway line, so we should take good care of it. (Btw, the written messages are equally bad, also in Polish.) What I really dislike about the message is the fact that the man pronounces it as if it was his first month of an English course. Well, I am sure it could be the case. But I am also sure he was paid a lot of money for the recording! And what's worse - someone clinched a deal on it! Without checking, without any sense of QUALITY in mind...

You can hear it for yourself (you can jump straight to 0:30):

the announcement

[next stay-shin Dworzec Gdanski; cohn-vee-nyent chench to 'sah-boor-bahn ant lonk deestance chrayns]

'next station Dworzec Gdanski; convenient change to suburban and long-distance trains'. Hear the dee-ference?

Am I exaggerating? Maybe. Am I right? Hell, I am! It has much deeper consequences than bad English... This is another case that we are seen as small, uneducated, sock-and-sandals Pollacks. And we have been seen like this sometimes. Often. Too often. Does it really have to be like this? Are we really like this??

I don't like the way people think here, how they don't like themselves, how they don't try to make a better future for themselves - they don't do what they like (apart from complaining and blaming others, of course). They do things that are below their qualifications, that are not interesting, that are impossible to put their heart and soul into. People FEEL they're underpaid and frustrated. Of course, the crisis, the bad economy blah blah. But what do they DO to change it? Some of them wouldn't even lift a finger to change the smallest thing in their life: to smile at a customer, to go for a walk instead of watching tv, to pick up a bottle and throw it in a bin, to wait for a running passenger at a bus stop, to give the right information at a town hall... just a small thing. It would change a lot, like a domino effect... but someone has to move the perpetuum mobile first.

I once heard "the way you do anything is the way you do everything". I am not sure if it's 100% true, but in 99% it is. The way people treat themselves (eating crap and saying 'na zdrowie' (for health=bottoms up), working as if it was their punishment, not a money-giving activity, treating children as furniture (the kid just IS here, paying attention to it is unimportant), living with no quality in doing the simplest things possible... etc. etc.)

I try. It often works. Sometimes it doesn't. I just remembered a situation that happened last year, also on the subway: I got on board, Saturday evening, a guy puked, I moved a few seats away, puke all over the floor. A girl came in, looking at her phone, sat by the pukey seat. The puke almost touched her shoes. People were staring, making bets if it touches her or not. I got up, approached her, pointed at the puke, she thanked and moved a few seats away. Another girl came in. Sat at exactly the same place. The first girl looked at her and.... did nothing. I was speechless. My ability to understand other people's behaviour had gone instantly. And it was such a small thing... Or was it?