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Saturday, June 04, 2005
THE MYTHICAL POLISH PLUMBER Get a load of all these stories about the Polish plumber and how he’s destroying the European Union! This “iconic figure” (it takes only a twenty-four hour news cycle these days to become iconic) is all over the world’s media - the plombier polonais with his cheap efficient labor’s going to come to France and put the French plumbers out of business… Elaine Sciolino in the New York Times is absolutely right to talk about France’s “fear of the mythical ‘Polish plumber.’” UD has been around Poles for twenty-five years and she can confirm that the Polish plumber does not exist. This is what Polish men look like (note sensitive reclining position). This is what a Polish plumber, if there were such a thing, would look like. Poles are tall blond cultured people who speak French. Many of them are entitled, in certain countries, to call themselves “Count.” They are philosophers and mathematicians and pianists and sculptors. They work hard, yes, but never with their hands. |