As I was growing up there was always polish jokes being told amongst the members of my extended family on my mothers side, sometimes intricate, usually simple and straight forward, but always driving home the point that people of polish descent have their own unique way of dealing with problems and situations.

As time went on I tended not to think about it at all until such a time as I happened to be visiting from out of state riding around with one of my uncles on our way over to pick up another uncle to get the day started and begin whatever project or event we had planned for the day. It was fairly early in the day and there was a nice light rain that promised to keep the temperature down for the rest of the day. We turned the corner and it took me a few moments to realize what I was seeing… My uncle… on a ladder… painting the house… In the rain!!!

At the time I set it aside and didn't say a thing, but after returning home I made a point of sharing this amusing anecdote with my mother and some of my friends. If I remember properly my comment to my mother started with, "I know we're polish, but…"

A year or so later my mother made the pilgrimage to visit our relatives and was sitting around the table with several of her siblings and their spouses when she shared the tale of how her son was telling everyone he knew that all the stories about polish people were true because he had seen his uncle painting the outside of his house in the rain. According to my mother's report the uncle in question only rolled his eyes a bit and looked sidelong at his wife.


This is actually a long convoluted lead in to explain why when my truck wouldn't even attempt to crank last week the problem was solved with repeated application of a hammer under the hood.