Is this casual racism on my mums part? Aibu in thinking so?

[Dinosaur1991]

My mum works in a big supermarket so obviously serves many customers a day. Yesterday she said that 99% of polish people she serves are rude and ignorant, very much implying that this is how she feels about Polish people in general. She doesn't think there's anything wrong with this as it's just her opinion and got huffy with me when I said I don't want it said around my son. Is she being slightly racist or am I massively overreacting?

[dizzyfucker]

monkeywrench I agree. I have four children and they all speak only English at home, people joke that our house is an isolated island of English and our dogs only understand English. Even though we have lots of close family nearby and live in a small rural community. It is entirely dependent on the family structure and personality of the children involved.

I think it's different if you say one thing in passing to a child or relative but I still think it is rude to have a full scale conversation in front of people that don't understand.

[Girlgonewild]

There are cultural differences. The Russians don't smile much and find all our smiling over here very strange indeed.
In Japan it can show you are listening to close your eyes in a meeting.

However in other countries it always pays to try to fit in and adopt their ways so perhaps those Poles could be given a sheet of paper setting out how to behave in a UK supermarket, thank the people on the tills, smile, mention some anecdote about the weather, say sorry if someone pushes into you etc etc

[MerryMarigold]

Not RTFT but how does she know they are Polish? Does she ask them for a passport? Can she tell the difference between a Polish and a German accent? Does she know what Polish sounds like as opposed to Lithuanian?

[MerryMarigold]

so perhaps those Poles could be given a sheet of paper setting out how to behave in a UK supermarket, thank the people on the tills, smile, mention some anecdote about the weather, say sorry if someone pushes into you etc etc

I really, really REALLY hope that was ironic.

[Lweji]

Late to the thread, but just to point out that
Having conversations in Polish, to their companions, or on the phone, is usually a give away.
may not be correct, unless you know the language.
Polish can sound like Portuguese to me (and I'm bloody Portuguese!).

[dizzyfucker]

True that Lweji, I cannot tell the difference between Bulgarians speaking English and Brazilians. And I KNOW Brazilians. Don't even get me started on Romanian. That one throws me right off track.

I'm going to guess the OP's mum is not an expert of the Baltic languages.

[MerryMarigold]

Romanian sounds like Spanish with an Italian accent. I can understand lots of Romanian because I speak Spanish.

[BadLad]

I think Polish people tend to be nice, open, like babies and dogs,

I think this is probably the most patronising thing I've ever read.

[dizzyfucker]

MerryMarigold Romanian sounds like Portuguese to me. But I base this entirely on Dragostea Din Tei, so it's not an in depth analysis. Mind you I also think Bulgarian sounds like Portuguese so I'm obviously crap at language recognition

[SinisterBumFacedCat]

I'm afraid to say that if your mum perceives 99% of her customers to be rude it's probably her own attitude that's the problem.

Also how does she know for sure that they are Polish? Can she understand Polish and if so why doesn't she chat to them? Is she working in a Polish Deli??

[Clandestino]

MerryMarigold Romanian sounds like Portuguese to me. But I base this entirely on Din Tei, so it's not an in depth analysis. Mind you I also think Bulgarian sounds like Portuguese so I'm obviously crap at language recognition

Romanian sounds similar to Portuguese because it's a Romanic language. Bulgarian is a Slavonic language and sounds quite hard so I would never mistake them but you'd have to know how to recognise them. Chances are, a cashier who most likely only speaks English will believe all foreigners from Central and Eastern Europe are Polish. I might be mistaken though and the woman in question is actually university educated linguist who knows the difference between let's say Czech, Polish or Ukrainian immediately.

[yabvu]

It isn't racist. She talking about her experiences of them.

It's implied that she is judging them to her (our) standards of politeness and ignoring their language barriers or what counts as polite in their culture.

[yabvu]

I think Polish people tend to be nice, open, like babies and dogs,

And not all babies and dogs are nice or open either!

[Lweji]

In fact, I think that comment is so incredibly patronising that it's racist. Who compares a nation to dogs and babies, FGS?

[mzS1990]

I would say most of the polish people I come across are very abrupt and come across as rude.....
I don't think that's racist. She's discussing her experiences with her daughter

[Clandestino]

*I would say most of the polish people I come across are very abrupt and come across as rude.....
I don't think that's racist. She's discussing her experiences with her daughter *

Most English I came across were snotty, arrogant, cold and xenophobic. Indirect and polite backstabbers. But maybe I just had a wrong impression.

[dizzyfucker]

Clandestino I meant the flow and sounds of the language rather than the language itself.. I speak Portuguese and a little Spanish so hopefully I wouldn't actually mistake Romanian for Portuguese

[BreconBeBuggered]

I took 'like babies and dogs' to mean, albeit clumsily, that the people in question were friendly and liked babies and dogs, leading to easy conversation.

I think I should move to Poland, or Russia. I make a totally rubbish Brit, and have fallen foul of the 'come round anytime' invitation more than once.

[AppleSetsSail]

Good grief. I meant that the Polish people I know are easy-going, friendly, are fond of babies and dogs, are quick to offer their food, etc. Not that Polish people are like dogs or babies.