Hello Dale,

On Sunday January 27 2019 00:04, you wrote to me:

 MVDV>> It makes no sense it if there is not more to "Polish" than
 MVDV>> just not selling food in a hardware store.

 DS> It is simply a crude semi-racist joke, denigrating the Polish people
 DS> who are being characterized (falsely) as being dumb.  There are
 DS> similar tasteless jokes poking fun at the Irish, at the Dutch, at the
 DS> ... (you name it).

o Googling for "Home Depot" spoils the joke.

o That asking for Whiskey is OK clouds the issue.

o Over here one does not call it racism. Polish is not a race, it is a
nationality.

o We used to make fun at the Belgians. They were presumed to be dumb as well. I
haven't heard a "Belgian joke" in decades. Maybe my bubble has shrunk. Or maybe
such jokes are no longer fashionable...

And vice versa. In the eyes of the Belgians, the Dutch were avaricious. Don't
hear such jokes any more either. Except ...from Ward....

Other than that:

 "Go to your neighbor and borrow an egg."

  ... Would not work. Not if the neighbor is also Dutch. The avaricious
neighbor would not give away the egg just like that. He would either try to
sell it or ask for collateral, to be sure he got it back. So, knowing that, the
Dutchman would never go to the neighbor in the first place.

Now if the joke had been:

 "Go to your Belgian neighbor and borrow an egg."

  ......


Cheers, Michiel

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