Things about those foreigners that drive us micks CRAZY

InFront · 21-07-2006 12:37AM

I always find it quite funny that, even though they are the same colour and often ethnicity to the irish, you can tell an american immediately! they are usually the old age group with white trainers, white socks, shorts and a camera slung around their neck. Weight is often a confirming factor:D These are the only nationality you can differentiate within awhite people in general imo, a race of their own!

Thats not annoying, though. The only annoying thing about foreigners is they get to go back to nice weather and we get the sh1t weather

tails2 · 21-07-2006 12:41AM

InFront wrote:

I always find it quite funny that, even though they are the same colour and often ethnicity to the irish, you can tell an american immediately! they are usually the old age group with white trainers, white socks, shorts and a camera slung around their neck. Weight is often a confirming factor:D These are the only nationality you can differentiate within awhite people in general imo, a race of their own!

Thats not annoying, though. The only annoying thing about foreigners is they get to go back to nice weather and we get the sh1t weather

no i think there are a lot more white groups you can differentiate. for example i can tell polish from irish almost straight away, i reckon most can. there are others also. but i get what you are saying

InFront · 21-07-2006 12:43AM

tails2 wrote:

no i think there are a lot more white groups you can differentiate. for example i can tell polish from irish almost straight away, i reckon most can. there are others also. but i get what you are saying

Yeah no probably can, this is just the only one I can tell, You just know they are american before they say a word!

Kernel · 21-07-2006 12:44AM

hypnotic_tango wrote:

Also... being spanish in an almost all irish board is a bit intimidating...

I'll protect you tango.

Oh and Julep, you may once have had to pay for quality work, but Irish tradesmen have gotten way too greedy and only have themselves to blame. If a skilled tradesman from another country will do it cheaper, then he gets my money. There are plenty of cowboy Irish too.

Terry · 21-07-2006 12:48AM

Kernel wrote:

I'll protect you tango.

Oh and Julep, you may once have had to pay for quality work, but Irish tradesmen have gotten way too greedy and only have themselves to blame. If a skilled tradesman from another country will do it cheaper, then he gets my money. There are plenty of cowboy Irish too.

when the going rate is €25 a yard and someone offers to do it for €10, then you are asking for trouble by employing them.
i know there are plenty of Irish cowboys out there, but again, you pay for quality.want to get a polish guy in for the going rate? fine, i'll listen to you complain is he does a bad job (although i doubt he would if he was charging the going rate), but if you pay below the going rate, you are going to get sub-par work done.

Fanny Cradock · 21-07-2006 12:58AM

hypnotic_tango wrote:

I can tell....

Also... being spanish in an almost all irish board is a bit intimidating...

must be hell living in a country full of irish then

Kernel · 21-07-2006 01:10AM

julep wrote:

if you pay below the going rate, you are going to get sub-par work done.

Actually, I know first-hand that many of them do a better job. A lot of foreign tradesmen are used by Irish builders now, rather than Irish tradesmen, because they work harder and to better quality for much less.

Admittedly, many of them have raised their prices on a par with the Irish (mainly because Irish tradesmen advise them to get as much out of the customer as possible).

You must agree that Irish tradesmen have been too greedy lately? I had a brickie last week complaining that he was only earning 850 euro a week - not enough to live in this economy apparently. :rolleyes:

Terry · 21-07-2006 01:18AM

Kernel wrote:

Actually, I know first-hand that many of them do a better job. A lot of foreign tradesmen are used by Irish builders now, rather than Irish tradesmen, because they work harder and to better quality for much less.

Admittedly, many of them have raised their prices on a par with the Irish (mainly because Irish tradesmen advise them to get as much out of the customer as possible).

You must agree that Irish tradesmen have been too greedy lately? I had a brickie last week complaining that he was only earning 850 euro a week - not enough to live in this economy apparently. :rolleyes:

what you have to remember about manual labour is that you have a short time at it. 25/ 30 years maximum before you back/ knees/ arms give up on you. take into account that most people begin their trades aged 16/ 17, that gives you until your mid 40's to earn as much as you can.
you also need to remember that it is skilled work. anyone can say they are a brickie, but actually doing a proper job is another thing.
brickies (like most tradesmen) are paid by the amount of work they do, so the guy you overheard was either working hard for peanuts or not working hard enough to earn more than €850.

Kernel · 21-07-2006 01:37AM

julep wrote:

what you have to remember about manual labour is that you have a short time at it. 25/ 30 years maximum before you back/ knees/ arms give up on you. take into account that most people begin their trades aged 16/ 17, that gives you until your mid 40's to earn as much as you can.
you also need to remember that it is skilled work. anyone can say they are a brickie, but actually doing a proper job is another thing.

Yeah, but in fairness, most people are working in ****ty multinationals or office work etc. and are on nowhere near as much money. I'm all for the working man, but not when he's robbing Joe Public. Electricians getting 5 grand for a weekends work?!?! If someone does good quality work and charges an honest price for it, then cool, but I have had to work for 6-8 weeks to pay for jobs I have gotten tradesmen to carry out in 2 days.

Btw - I'm tiling my bathroom at the moment, and it's not too hard work.. not as bad as mixing plaster/cement that's for sure!

hypnotic_tango · 21-07-2006 01:40AM

Kernel wrote:

I'll protect you tango.

Oh and Julep, you may once have had to pay for quality work, but Irish tradesmen have gotten way too greedy and only have themselves to blame. If a skilled tradesman from another country will do it cheaper, then he gets my money. There are plenty of cowboy Irish too.

*giggles*

I bet you will......

and I like it here so far....even if it`s smack dab in the middle of the irish....

*grins*

aidan24326 · 21-07-2006 02:26AM

toomevara wrote:

The hilarious and oft quoted assertion that 'its not like back home', especially common among yankee doodles, kiwis, South Africans and Australians....well doh...ya dont say.....

If another Southern Hemsiphere dimtone tells me about how wonderful life is in the anitipodes compared to our beknighted little country, I'm likely to go nuclear...If its so bloody great etc...etc...etc....and no my friends, sand, sea and surf do not a country make...as your presence here attests, though it does seem to mitigate against intellectual endeavour and cultural pursuits....and no australians, before you start, a barbecue is NOT a cultural pursuit....

I worked with a few Nigerians a few years ago and they would regularly talk about how rubbish Ireland is and how awful/lazy/drunk/racist we Irish are and how the weather is crap and they don't like the food and...etc etc
Sometimes to the point of being bloody offensive.

I mean if Ireland is so awful then WTF are you doing here??
It became really annoying to hear these people talk like that. Yes Ireland isn't perfect I know that thanks, but no-one invited you here, you came here of your own volition and if you don't like it the Airport is only a few miles away!!

I must add not all Nigerians I've encountered adopt this attitude. But it seemed to be the Nigerian women who had a problem with the place moreso than the lads.
Or perhaps women are just bigger whingers

Ponster · 21-07-2006 09:06AM

aidan24326 wrote:

I worked with a few Nigerians a few years ago and they would regularly talk about how rubbish Ireland is and how awful/lazy/drunk/racist we Irish are and how the weather is crap and they don't like the food and...etc etc
Sometimes to the point of being bloody offensive.

I mean if Ireland is so awful then WTF are you doing here??

Because their own country is worse maybe?

And you can't blame him eitehr can you? I mean in the past 10 years Ireland has become more racist, people do drink more than almost any other nation on the planet (not a problem as such but when it's accepted as normal then maybe).
The weather is crap and decent food tends to be more expensive then the rest.

All IMHO of course.

toomevara · 21-07-2006 09:48AM

Ponster wrote:

Because their own country is worse maybe?

And you can't blame him eitehr can you? I mean in the past 10 years Ireland has become more racist, people do drink more than almost any other nation on the planet (not a problem as such but when it's accepted as normal then maybe).
The weather is crap and decent food tends to be more expensive then the rest.

All IMHO of course.

Durr...read his post properly ponster! That's the point the chap is making...if as they say everything in Nigeria is wonderful, whats the attraction to Ireland??..

Incidentally, and for the record,it isnt. Nigeria is one of the great corruption centres of the world..this is the country that has refined the internet cash scam and credit card fraud to a fine art....a real achievement and as for political corruption, these guys are the global cahmpions, they especially love squirreling away aid and devlopment money given by the international community into their fat Swiss bank accounts....

galah · 21-07-2006 09:58AM

julep wrote:

i don't hav anything really bad to say about these damn immigints.

just one thing.
if you want to hire some polish guy to tile your bathroom for €10 a yard, then don't come crying to me when the tiles fall off the wall.

you pay for quality work.

As opposed to paying an Irish builder 50 Euros a yard for the same result??? TBH, I think Irish building "standards" are a joke, never seen so much substandard quality and shoddy workmanship, nevermind the exorbitant rates...

Oh, sorry, wrong thread, should have posted in "what foreigners don't like about the Irish"...

Ponster · 21-07-2006 10:10AM

toomevara wrote:

Durr...read his post properly ponster! That's the point the chap is making...if as they say everything in Nigeria is wonderful, whats the attraction to Ireland??..

I did. Go and have another cup of coffee and read mine again.

People, no matter where they're from, will always complain about their new home if they have been forced, for one reason or another, to move from their original home. I meet people every week, mostly British though, who complain about France and everything they think is wrong with the country. Most have been here over 5 years yet they complain all the same.

Just because someone decided to live in a new country doesn't mean that they don't have the right to complain about what they feel is 'wrong' or 'bad' about it. It will always seem weird to the natives of that country but does it really do any harm. Don't you find it interesting to see how other nations and cultures view you and your island?

Hey! Maybe in 20 years time, the Irish sons and daughters of those that moved to Ireland in the 1990's won't be cursed with the average Irishperson's inability to complain, challange and change things for the better?

toomevara · 21-07-2006 10:59AM

Ponster wrote:

I did. Go and have another cup of coffee and read mine again.

Having coffee and rereading now...hmmm coffee...good call

toomevara · 21-07-2006 11:03AM

Ponster wrote:

Don't you find it interesting to see how other nations and cultures view you and your island?

Umm yes..that's why i posted the 'things you foreigners dislike about us' thread.

Incidentally all I ever do is complain, bitch and agitate no matter where I've lived, and I defend everyone else's right to do same, even onto a particularly messy and gruesome death (if that's what it takes, although obviously i'd prefer if it didnt).....

Terry · 21-07-2006 01:40PM

galah wrote:

As opposed to paying an Irish builder 50 Euros a yard for the same result??? TBH, I think Irish building "standards" are a joke, never seen so much substandard quality and shoddy workmanship, nevermind the exorbitant rates...

Oh, sorry, wrong thread, should have posted in "what foreigners don't like about the Irish"...

€50 a yard?
someone has balls of steel to ask for that much.

unless your talking about natural stone and the like. even then, that's way too much.

Evil_Bilbo · 21-07-2006 02:36PM

saw a funny exchange at a pizza place the other day - an american asking a foreigner what drinks he had:
"What drinks you got?"
"Coke, fanta, sprite, water"
"Could I get 2 sodas"
"soda?"
"2 bottles of cola"
"only cans"
"you got a fountain?"
"heh?"
"soda fountain? you got fountained soda?"
"foun-tain?"
"what about water - you got bottles of water"
"water not in fridge - water not cold"
(losing temper)"just gimme 2 sodas then"
"soda?"
(shouting now)"Coca cola! GIVE ME 2 COCA COLAS"

(me peshing meself watching this)

one thing I dont understand is foreigners who dont speak the language getting jobs in a place where you pretty much need to speak english. Why do they apply? Who actually gives them the job? Are they mad? I'm sure the guy here had decent enough english, but just didnt know what the hell the american (who also refused to use the queens english) was on about.

Gf got some foreigners in looking for work in her shoe shop - she asked for a CV and got a total blank look. Asked did they have any experience - blank look, followed by "JOB" - who the hell employs these people? Put em somewhere they dont need to speak english (at least until they get a basic grasp)

Other pet hates - all that ATM skimmin stuff - feckers are experts at copying handbags, wallets and now credit cards and bank cards. Its all foreigners that do this (according to the news anyway). Stop stealing out money you wetbacks!

LadyJ · 21-07-2006 03:31PM

Was out in town last night and there were a lot of French and Italian guys around. I found them all to be incredibly pleasant and easy to talk to.

One thing I really liked about them was (and this is just the few I happened to meet last night,it can't be said for all of them obviously) when they hit on me and I told them I had a boyfriend and wasn't interested,they didn't just piss off like a lot of Irish guys seem to.

They just had a chat with me and we had a laugh. Then,at the end of the night I was about to head off and they invited me to hang around and have a joint with them. There wasn't any expectations or ulterior motive behind it.

Refreshing I thought.

tbh · 21-07-2006 04:12PM

I was in Rome recently, and found the Italians VERY easy to talk to, and have a laugh with. One guy was telling me he'd been to Ireland as a FES, I asked him where and he said "Limerick - Stab City" in the most chillingly accurate Limerick accent! class lads, the aul Italians

Fanny Cradock · 21-07-2006 04:18PM

Here.... this thread is supposed to be about what we dislike about foreigners

themole · 21-07-2006 04:20PM

I also agree that noisy Spanish kids are indeed annoying, but of late there are also a lot of Italians here in UCD, and they are almost as bad as the Spanish. I think its foreign kids in general that are noisy and annoying. Especially when they are in big groups. If they are foreign its made worse because its hard to make out what they are saying, or to get them to shut up.

On a different note.
A while ago I was in CP's in Galway with my brother and a few friends (i am from galway, btw). We were having a few beers when some Latvian dude came up to my brother and asked to arm wrestle him.
The brother is a big guy, around 6 4, he said he wasn't interested. The guy kept pestering my brother so he eventually gave in. The brother was winning but also getting bored with it, and his pint also ran out

, so he let the guy win and walked off to get another pint from the bar. The Latvian guy was with 4 other guys. He looked around and said "I see you friends seem to have deserted you". My bro and friends happened to be elsewhere in CP's, getting pints takin a piss etc. I said they were around somewhere. Then the guy said I owed him 5 pints. I asked him why. He said "In latvia when you take a bet and you loose you owe", I explained that no bet was made and then told him "your in Ireland now mate, go **** yourself" and I walked away.

I decided to tell this story because I found it funny and it kind of fits in with the thread. There are different customs and social norms in different countries. When you move to another country you have to try and fit in with what the society of that country.

And also, don't accept an arm wrestle from some dodge guys in a nightclub

lazylad · 22-07-2006 04:21AM

I don't mind anyone, i've been in chicago for the last month with family and really...there aint much difference in races only the fact they are rared with different manners

Things about those foreigners that drive us micks CRAZY

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