Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by Irish Police

by Frank Schnittger Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 06:08:10 AM EST

Cross posted from Think About It website promoted by the European Journalism Centre.

Dictionary helps crack case of notorious Polish serial offender - The Irish Times - Thu, Feb 19, 2009

HE WAS one of Ireland's most reckless drivers, a serial offender who crossed the country wantonly piling up dozens of speeding fines and parking tickets while somehow managing to elude the law.
So effective was his modus operandi of giving a different address each time he was caught that by June 2007 there were more than 50 separate entries under his name, Prawo Jazdy, in the Garda Pulse system. And still not a single conviction.
In the end, the vital clue to his identity lay not with Interpol or the fingerprint database but in the pages of a Polish-English dictionary. Prawo jazdy means driving licence.
In a letter dated June 17th, 2007, an officer from the Garda traffic division wrote that it had come to his attention that members inspecting Polish driving licences were noting Prawo Jazdy as the licence holder's name.
"Prawo Jazdy is actually the Polish for driving licence and not the first and surname on the licence," he wrote.
"Having noticed this I decided to check on Pulse and see how many members have made this mistake. It is quiet [sic] embarrassing to see that the system has created Prawo Jazdy as a person with over 50 identities.

Promoted by DoDo

I'm sure the drivers concerned were not too bothered about correcting the Garda (Irish Policeman) when he incorrectly transcribed the Polish for "Driving Licence" as the name of the License holder! The misreading of official documents in foreign languages must be a common occurrence across Europe. In Ireland it is common to get off a charge on a technicality if even one letter in your name is misspelled. Anybody else got any examples?

Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by Irish Police | 75 comments (75 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by I (4.00 / 7)

No stories here, but your diary is actually very funny.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Thu Feb 19th, 2009 at 09:50:10 AM EST

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver (4.00 / 7)

For me, the classic story in this line is the fable Kannitverstan by Johann Peter Hebel (English version/German version).

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman

by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Thu Feb 19th, 2009 at 11:19:24 AM EST

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver (4.00 / 4)

I love the Johann Peter Hebel stories, thanks for linking to them.

by Fran on Thu Feb 19th, 2009 at 03:56:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver (none / 1)

There is a classic early Stalinist period (1949) Hungarian comedy titled Mágnás Miska ( = Magnate Mike) making fun of aristocrats by having a stable-boy and a maid pretending to play aristocrats visiting from abroad, and having countryside aristocrats fall for the obvious ruse. The film is forgettable, but one line went into popular usage: "Szilvalé, rongy-ő!" ( = plum juice, she's all rags!), which was the maid's 'interpretation' of the all-purpose French phrase she was coached to utter, "S'il vous plaît, mon Dieu!"

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 02:30:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

It must be the weather (4.00 / 3)

Is it just me, or is there something particularly celtic about these things? I'm thinking of this story.

Real capricorns don't believe in astrology.

by tomhuld (thomas punkt huld at jrc punkt it) on Thu Feb 19th, 2009 at 11:33:43 AM EST

Re: It must be the weather (4.00 / 4)

Not sure I see the Celtic connection, except perhaps a tendency not to check and double check things - and also not to take them too seriously when they do go wrong!

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Thu Feb 19th, 2009 at 12:31:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Prawo Jazdy (4.00 / 5)

Sounds like a good ET user name too.

by Magnifico on Thu Feb 19th, 2009 at 02:15:18 PM EST

Re: Prawo Jazdy (4.00 / 8)

Well, I've already got a nick, and in my case it would read 'bez prawa jazdy'.

by MarekNYC on Thu Feb 19th, 2009 at 03:07:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 8)

LOL...

Such cursory inattention to details in another language even if it would be easy to figure out is quite common. I had my surname and name confused by forigners several times, had to contact idiots for whom a copy-and-paste job was too difficult when sending something by post, and had to correct colleagues who couldn't distinguish an address line and a tax number in a Spanish company's data.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Thu Feb 19th, 2009 at 02:18:36 PM EST

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 7)

You can also get cursory inattention to detail in the same language.

I had a courier delivery yesterday addressed to my first name only with no house number and a semi-random post code.

Before the driver arrived I had a panicked email from the PR person who organised it asking me my surname (clue - it was in the email address she sent the question to) but no questions about anything useful, like the address.

Maybe I'll start calling myself Prawo Jazdy and see what happens.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu Feb 19th, 2009 at 09:11:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (4.00 / 5)

Yo, Irish folk, you might consider the concept of having a few officers who speak the language of major immigrant groups. Failing that, at least some sort of clue as to what resembles a name in said languages. Hint 'prawo jazdy' sounds as much like a name in Polish as 'driver's license' does in English.

by MarekNYC on Thu Feb 19th, 2009 at 03:09:47 PM EST

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (4.00 / 3)

There have been some attempts to improve the police understanding of immigrant cultures but I'm aware of only one Polish language University Course in the whole country.

Part of the problem is that so much first and second level class time is spent learning Irish that there is usually only room for one other language on the curriculum - usually French, German or Spanish. Being an island has allowed us to get away with a very low level of linguistic diversity and competency level. Most Eastern European immigrants speak very good English which lets us off the hook even more.

However the biggest factor to be born in mind is that widespread immigration into Ireland has only really taken place in the last 10 years - and many of those immigrants are now leaving as unemployment soars.

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Thu Feb 19th, 2009 at 04:55:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (none / 1)

You don't need even that. It takes minimum effort to figure out what field is what category, even if it is in Chinese. But an awful lot of people will just look dazzled and not even attempt it.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Thu Feb 19th, 2009 at 05:07:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (4.00 / 3)

There is a mental disease called formitus which results in people having palpitations and blank moments when confronted by forms of any kind, but particularly complex tax and registration forms which always seems to be written in a foreign language.

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Thu Feb 19th, 2009 at 05:15:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (4.00 / 6)

I have such blank moments when confronted with a number of glass shaped, gold-liquid filled forms, so I empathise.

The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet. Winston Churchill

by r------ on Thu Feb 19th, 2009 at 05:26:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (none / 1)

Oh, hush, you. Fucking elitist New Yorkers.

;)

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

by Drew J Jones (pedobear@pennstatefootball.com) on Thu Feb 19th, 2009 at 08:11:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (4.00 / 7)

Language, Drew, Language! Everyone knows New York Cops are the very epitome of sensitivity towards all foreigners and could be very offended by being referred to in such terms...

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Thu Feb 19th, 2009 at 08:37:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (4.00 / 4)

Well, it is true that the majority of people I know and/or have known in NYC speak at least one foreign language. Come to think of it, this is true of Americans in general, at least the ones I've been friends with. I like to use this little true factoid in two situations - either with Europeans who are ragging too much on Americans' lack of knowledge of the rest of the world, or as an example of the dangers of generalizing from ones own personal experience.

by MarekNYC on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 12:43:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (4.00 / 3)

How many of the people you know who speak a foreign language do so because of their ethnic background rather than simply because of their education? New York is famously ethnically diverse, whereas Ireland, until very recently (and excepting a little Northern difficulty) is extremely monocultural by comparison.

If your acquaintances are more educated than the average (e.g. US Cop) is it not you who are over generalising from your own experience?

MarekNYC:

Europeans who are ragging too much on Americans' lack of knowledge of the rest of the world

Who here has been doing this dastardly deed?....

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 06:05:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (none / 1)

If your acquaintances are more educated than the average (e.g. US Cop) is it not you who are over generalising from your own experience?

Methinks pointing out that most people he knows speak a second language doesn't constitute a general claim that all do, it only counters the contrary general claim.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 06:35:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (4.00 / 4)

Fair point, but this conversation is specifically in the context of:MarekNYC:

Yo, Irish folk, you might consider the concept of having a few officers who speak the language of major immigrant groups. Failing that, at least some sort of clue as to what resembles a name in said languages. Hint 'prawo jazdy' sounds as much like a name in Polish as 'driver's license' does in English.

And thus the standard is what level of knowledge of immigrant languages might reasonably be expected of an indigenous police force. My understanding is that the Irish police force is actually quite highly trained and educated, does receive "diversity training", is generally quite good at developing relationships with most immigrant groups, and cannot be expected to know umpteen languages of all the Eastern European and African immigrant communities which have grown rapidly in Ireland in the past 10 years.

My little experience of New York cops is that their fine if you're Irish!

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 07:15:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (4.00 / 2)

I think it probably has mostly to do with New York cops speaking a foreign language -- presumably it's most often Spanish -- out of necessity. Latinos make up a plurality of New Yorkers, if I remember correctly. Pretty sure Puerto Ricans have, or at least had recently, surpassed Italians as the city's largest ethnic group.

Wiki sez 36% of New Yorkers are foreign-born, too.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

by Drew J Jones (pedobear@pennstatefootball.com) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 09:14:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (4.00 / 2)

Latinos make up a plurality of New Yorkers, if I remember correctly.

Nope, non Hispanic whites do. The 2005-7 Census Community Survey's estimates are NH Whites: 35.1%, Hispanics: 27.4%, NH Blacks 23.7%, and NH Asians 11.5%.

by MarekNYC on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 01:20:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (none / 1)

Yes but it depends on how you aggregate the numbers. Non Hispanic Whites sounds a bit like the "non-whites" of Apartheid lore, and if you broke them into their constituent ethnic/linguistic groups - Irish/British/Italian/Greek/French/German etc.you would find that Hispanics make up the largest group, if not an absolute majority.

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 01:37:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (none / 1)

Heh, but you can break up 'Hispanics', too...

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 01:39:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (none / 1)

You can disaggregate a population in innumerable ways, but how you do so is generally a political choice with political consequences.

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 01:51:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (none / 0)

Yep. And for your politics, it appears Hispanics are more similar to each other than say assimilated Poles and Italians?

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 02:15:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (none / 1)

It appears to an outsider that the US tendency to disaggregate Hispanics but not other ethnic Europeans from "whites" implies that Hispanics are somehow more different (and often second class) when compared to Greeks/Jews/Italians etc. who are not so often disaggregated from whites in general.

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 06:22:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (none / 1)

Nah, methinks it has to do with the categorisers' dificulty to disaggregate white Hispanics from non-white Hispanics, when say being Puerto Rican or Brazilian is a stronger identifier than skin colour. E.g., Latin America wasn't made for US race categorising.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Feb 21st, 2009 at 01:21:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (none / 0)

And if you broke up Hispanics into their constituent parts...

FWIW I believe the single largest group of NH whites in NYC are Jews, then Italians. Among Latinos it's Puerto Ricans then Dominicans.

by MarekNYC on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 01:41:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (none / 0)

Really, ahead of Anglo-Saxons and Irish?

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 01:43:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (4.00 / 2)

Anglo-Saxons? In NYC? Not a common species outside the confines of the Upper East Side. In any case, no. The number of Jews is somewhat difficult to know since the census only counts Jews as religion, not including the fair sized number who identify ethnically as Jewish but are non-religious. However, I believe the rough estimate of the total is around a million, or a good third of the white population. As for the Irish, they've moved out to the 'burbs in greater proportions than the Italians.

by MarekNYC on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 01:58:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (none / 1)

I would have thought that the Jews moved out to the 'burbs, too, but I may be under literary influence.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 02:13:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (none / 1)

They did, the numbers are half of what they were in 1950.

by MarekNYC on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 02:15:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (4.00 / 2)

But on the same lines, shouldn't you break up the Jews into Hispanic (literal meaning of Sephardi...) and Ashkenazi?

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Sat Feb 21st, 2009 at 01:59:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (none / 1)

I'd guess that in NYC, 95%+ are Ashkenazi, though.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Feb 21st, 2009 at 01:26:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Uhmmm... (4.00 / 2)

Who here has been doing this dastardly deed?

That would be me. See my comment beow.

"It Can't Be Just About Us"
--Frank Schnittger, ETian Extraordinaire

by papicek (papi_cek_at_hotmail_dot_com) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 06:52:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Uhmmm... (4.00 / 4)

Your confession is admirable, but I still haven't found any comment on this thread where you have questioned the supremacy of shining city on a hill!

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 07:20:38 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Uhmmm... (4.00 / 5)

I'm a Bostonian. Don't get me started on New Yorkers!

Anyways, you couldn't. I gotta crawl (traffic at this hour is miserable here) to work. (This working-for-a-living shit has gotta come to a screeching halt. I'll have to sacrifice a bucket of KFC to the lottery gods sometime soon.)

"It Can't Be Just About Us"
--Frank Schnittger, ETian Extraordinaire

by papicek (papi_cek_at_hotmail_dot_com) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 07:48:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Uhmmm... (4.00 / 3)

They demand a KFC sacrifice? no wonder I never win?

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 07:57:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Uhmmm... (none / 1)

Actually, if I remember correctly, Marek is a Bostonian....

(This working-for-a-living shit has gotta come to a screeching halt. I'll have to sacrifice a bucket of KFC to the lottery gods sometime soon.)

What are you doing eating fried chicken in New England?

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

by Drew J Jones (pedobear@pennstatefootball.com) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 09:16:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (4.00 / 3)

I guess I wasn't clear, I meant that the other situation where I use this fact is when I want to warn against generalizing from one's own personal experience. To expand - yes I live in a very heavily immigrant city, I spent the second half of my childhood abroad, I am the child of adult immigrants, and European history Ph.D programs tend to have a rather high proportion of foreign language speakers. Add it all up and it would be very surprissing if a majority of the Americans I encounter(ed) didn't know at least one foreign language well.

by MarekNYC on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 12:54:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (none / 1)

Ah shucks, and we were having a great argument about you without you, and now you come out and say something perfectly reasonable! Spoil sport!

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 01:03:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (4.00 / 5)

Heyheyhey, go easy there. I'm an American who rags on American's lack of knowledge of the rest of the world. I know lots of people who speak two languages. Which isn't the same as being exposed to and needing that second language on a regular basis. Imagine being a European truck driver, for instance.

Besides, I'm guessing you're from NYC, which is in a multi-cultural class of its own as far as the rest America is concerned.

"It Can't Be Just About Us"
--Frank Schnittger, ETian Extraordinaire

by papicek (papi_cek_at_hotmail_dot_com) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 06:50:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by (4.00 / 2)

We might, if we had any major immigrant groups before about twenty minutes ago.

Actually, there has been an effort to recruit Gardai from the assorted immigrant groups, but it all takes time.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 06:09:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 6)

I always have to spell out my surname, even in the UK, because there are quite a lot of phonetic alternatives.

Once written, it looks falsely simple to a native speaker, but it contains three of the same vowel, one of them silent.

I have had quite a lot of problems in situations outside the UK where I've relied on someone to pass on my name to someone else. Despite having a ticket, I've been made to wait twice, for instance, until the differently-named person on the Eurolines driver's list hasn't turned up, and I've got rather adept at reading hotel booking lists upside down in order to point out my reservation, because when I say my name it creates no connection with the marks on the page.

It isn't anybody's fault. Well, maybe the Eurolines people who relayed my details over the phone should have spelled it out. But if I ever change my name, I want one with pan-European phonics.

by Sassafras on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 07:22:56 AM EST

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 3)

My name causes untold problems in Ireland because it isn't native (and quite rare world-wide) and is constantly misspelled in the most amazing ways even though ultimately pronounced in a completely phonetic way. This is because it doesn't make an immediate synaptic connection with the listener as a native name would.

I personally have to take great care when being introduced to someone with an unfamiliar name because I am very bad at remembering names in the first place - and unless I can visualise it or obtain a clear auditory "print" I have no hope of remembering it.

It is a basic courtesy, highly prized in Ireland, to always address people by their names, and I am frequently mortified when I cannot recall a name in a crowded room, or when I have just been introduced to several new people.

Ultimately it is about treating people with respect - as people and not just as numbers, drivers, customers, or law breakers. Generally it is something the Irish are very good at. I am in awe of the skills of remembering the names and details of people of virtually anyone in a leadership position in Ireland as it is a skill I have never mastered despite major efforts. The more senior the person, they better they are at doing this - in my experience. A successful Irish politician must be able to remember the names of thousands of people, their relations, their key life events, and any previous interaction they, or their families might have had over the past 30 years!

However this is a skill-set related to personally interaction - not reading foreign language documents - and I am not sure how significant this particular embarrassing tale really is. Apparently the Polish Driving Licence was changed recently (to a credit card format) and the Polish term for "Driving Licence" was put where the Card holder's name would be put on the equivalent Irish (credit cards) cards.

The mistake could therefore simply be the fairly standard one of assuming all cards follow a similar format especially when the language is not comprehended in the first place.

This story was meant to be a funny anecdote. It would be wrong to read too much into it!

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 07:56:37 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 6)

Generally it is something the Irish are very good at. I am in awe of the skills of remembering the names and details of people of virtually anyone in a leadership position in Ireland as it is a skill I have never mastered despite major efforts. The more senior the person, they better they are at doing this - in my experience. A successful Irish politician must be able to remember the names of thousands of people, their relations, their key life events, and any previous interaction they, or their families might have had over the past 30 years!

Hobbits...

By the way, when I was an expatriate in Saudi Arabia, I took great pleasure in showing my (perfectly valid) Saudi driver's license to the French cops. It was written in Arabic and English and they were puzzled to find I had obtained my driver's license in 1399...

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

by Melanchthon on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 09:24:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 4)

LOL, so you are finally revealing yourself, as you are actually the true Nicolas Flamel. :-)

by Fran on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 10:42:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 5)

No, I am the Count of St. Germain

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

by Melanchthon on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 10:54:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 3)

Sorry, my deepest apology for the mix-up. :-)

by Fran on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 10:58:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 3)

And to think that I confused you with Inspector Clouseau !

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 11:03:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 2)

Well, I guess as long as you did not confuse him with the pink panther it will be okay. :-)

by Fran on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 11:04:17 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 3)

I don't know...he has that fierce look...that steely determination...that sense of a storm waiting to explode...what a magnificent character all the same - true nobility for sure...

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 11:07:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 2)

Flattery is useless: I can't give you a 4. My rating system doesn't work...

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

by Melanchthon on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 11:18:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 2)

Why so? Have you been a bold boy? I believe some FPs are v. cross these days?

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 11:21:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 2)

Good idea: I will blame the evil front-pagers!

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

by Melanchthon on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 11:28:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 3)

Urg, I'm sorry you are plagued by this. Please have a look under Tools->Add-ons, and then click on the TribExt line, followed by the 'options' button in the same line. Then uncheck the 'dynamic ratings' box. You may leave the 'oldschool ratings' box checked initially. This will change the ratings system back to one where you have to click the 'rate all' button in order to register ratings, but will retain the '+4' button. See if this works. If not, try unchecking the 'oldschool' box. If it starts working, try rechecking the 'dynamic' box and see if by magic it becomes functional again. (After you make changes in the options for the add-on, you may or may not have to get a new window to load ET in for things to change...)

by someone (s0me1smail(a)gmail(d)com) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 11:28:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 2)

Well, oldschool works, but when I rechecked the dynamic box, it didn't work. :-(
I'll keep the oldschool until the next version of tribext...

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

by Melanchthon on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 11:46:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 2)

aha! So now you can go back and rate all my wonderful comments!!!

eh - well actually, don't bother. They probably don't bear re-reading!

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 12:00:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 2)

Done! (but I didn't re-read them...)

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

by Melanchthon on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 12:22:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 2)

I'll try and think of something else nice to say about you, but don't rush me!

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 12:53:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 2)

Well, I have sometimes been nicknamed "Black Panther" (Panthère Noire)...

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

by Melanchthon on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 11:16:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 2)

More like the black Knight in smutty armour...

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 11:33:17 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (none / 1)

Ah, shame, and I thought you're the Count of Montmirail...

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 01:42:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (none / 1)

My name causes problems in Ireland and it's as bloody Irish as is possible.

Either they're all confused because they think it's two surnames or a double-barrelled surname or something or they spell it wrong - my surname is a very common one.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 10:11:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (4.00 / 2)

I hate those double-barrelled posh people! ;-)

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 10:35:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (none / 1)

even though ultimately pronounced in a completely phonetic way.

I beg your pardon!? Phonetic - English!?!?!?!? No such thing...

How do you pronounce the "sch"? Like in German, that is like 'sh' in English; or like 'sch' in 'school'?

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 01:38:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (none / 1)

oh no?

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 01:43:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (none / 1)

Sch in both German and English (as in School) if you must know...

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 01:56:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (none / 0)

You mean you pronounce it both ways?

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 02:16:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught (none / 0)

even though ultimately pronounced in a completely phonetic way.

That's what I tell people about my last name. Generally causes either bemusement or amusement.

by MarekNYC on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 01:43:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver (4.00 / 5)

Well not a name but an address problem. I once had to order some software from a place in the south of the States for a person living in the depths of Wales. This was back before Internet ordering, so had to be done by phone. The sticking point was the town name which was Llanybydder I said to the guy on the far end that I'd spell it out, and ran through the letters, where he told me I'd spelt it wrong and that between the n and the y there should be an e. We argued back and forth with me insisting on correct spelling and explaining that it was Welsh, and him insisting that you couldn't possibly spell a place that way, so adding extra vowels. I think I spent more time arguing about the address, and so more on the phone bill than the software cost.

(oh and it did turn up spelt wrong with about 4 extra letters, Whoever invented post codes needs a round of applause)

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 07:55:49 AM EST

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver (4.00 / 5)

On several occasions in the US various people felt it necessary to 'correct' the spelling of my last name. My last name is of course very simple, Andersson, a name which I share with at least 150% of the Swedish population. But on all too many occasions I was told that in the US, it is spelt with one 's', and why did I have to make trouble by spelling it wrong? Hell, even the spell checker in this text box indicates that it should be spelt with one 's'. One would however hope that a human would know and recognize that names can come in a variety of spellings, and that the one on a person's passport probably ought to be considered the 'correct' one for that instance.

by someone (s0me1smail(a)gmail(d)com) on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 10:09:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver (none / 0)

On several occasions in the US various people felt it necessary to 'correct' the spelling of my last name.

I am more curious about your reply...

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Fri Feb 20th, 2009 at 01:48:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Notorious Polish Delinquent Driver Caught by Irish Police | 75 comments (75 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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