This week Elisa and Tomasz discuss why British bureaucracy is so dysfunctional and what can be done to improve users’ experience in contact with the government, banks, and other institutions. To illustrate problems when talking to automatic voice recognition systems, we used a fragment of a clip from a TV show Burnistoun: https://youtu.be/HbDnxzrbxn4 Related posts: […]
Great Britain
You are not so great Britain. Chapter 4: Home, sweet home. Tiny, mouldy home.
Britons are pround of being one of the richest economy. But are standards of living really that great? We lived in a few countries between us, and we can’t remember topics like “mould”, “leaving rooms unheated to save money”, “single glazing windows” and “struggling to fit double bed into the bedroom” to be topics of […]
You are not so great, Britain. Chapter 3: Britain is a world-leading democracy. Or is it?
Britain is very proud of its democracy. You can often hear soundbites like “world-leading”, “well-established” or “historic”. Sure, Magna Carta and other things were good – for their time. But it’s the XXI century. Is Britain’s democracy suitable for the times we live in? Can it be even considered a modern democracy at all? Related […]
You are not so great, Britain. Chapter 2: Britain’s Rubbish.
Britain is a beautiful country. Old victorian towns, beautiful landscape, walkable city centres. Yet it is all spoiled by rubbish. Litter is everywhere, even despite the fact that bins are plentiful and easily accessible – from the main streets of big cities to the most remote areas of Scotland. Why is it, that Britain can’t […]
Welcome to my new Podcast: “You are not so Great, Britain!”
Some say one should not criticize another man’s beliefs. But what I can do? It’s not my fault that the conviction that the NHS is the best health system in the world and everybody is jealous of it is like a religion for many Britons. So if you are not afraid your religious beliefs might […]
What are Finnish housing standards compared to British ones?
In my last Polish language podcast I shared my first impressions after moving to Glasgow. One of the listeners, a British Pole, asked if I could do a twitter thread about it, so I did. And I got carried away a bit, so I am going to make it into a blog as well for […]
Cold pint of Lech at 21:37, or why you should not overdo the mourning.
The Queen has died at the beautiful age of 96 years. After the initial shock of the nation, the news from Britain became more and more ridiculous. Center Parcs kicking out their guests in honour of the queen and the food banks closing its doors to hungry, poor people to commemorate her majesty. All while […]
It’s not a Ukraine crisis. It’s a Russian invasion.
This text was published in English in West Country Voices. Related posts: Meanwhile in Cuckooland 189 – The Refugee Crisis and Polish Government’s Crimes Against Humanity The Duda News channel – on the pro-PiS propaganda in Public Media A crisis-proof industry. Role of Russian settlers communities in the consolidation of Soviet Union and it’s impact […]
FACT CHECK: Poland needs 120 000 drivers, so surely they must have even biggest shortages than Britain!
There is that map circulating the internet, used by Brexiters to show that driver shortages are nothing unusual across Europe, and thus the situation in Britain is not specific to this country only and, surely, it has nothing to do with Brexit. You can find that map for example in this Daily Mail article, for […]
20 reasons why there is shortage of drivers in the UK
Thousands of people who shop in the UK probably noticed shortages of products in British supermarkets. The supply problems are blamed on the shortage of HGV drivers and the government is taking steps to tackle it: the driving hours have been extended and there is a talk about bringing the army drivers to help with […]