Pole dancing

Like every other town we've our share of migrants from central and eastern Europe. Probably the story here is one that would be told in each of those towns, too; or indeed everywhere except between the covers of the Daily Mail. The vanguard was a woman who married a Brit oh, about thirty years ago, had a couple of kids then divorced him not long after, stayed, married another bloke, had another kid and then about eight years ago sponsored one of her two brothers, his wife and their two kids to come over and Set Up A Business.

They're still here and a few friends have dribbled across the channel more recently. So now we have our own little Polish Enclave.

On the whole these people are so thoroughly integrated they're invisible. The only time they'll be noticed is when they say please or thank you which obviously sets them a mile apart from the locals. And the men will tilt their heads by way of a mini-bow to the ladies as they pass in the street. Such behaviour is totally alien and therefore deeply suspect.

Until yesterday I hadn't heard a single negative word - and then there was a conversation between the Handmaiden and the Bolshy Book Worm about one of our shop floor employees (Polish woman, hard worker but married with very young daughter, husband holding down two jobs). She's struggling to keep her shifts while her husband isn't available to care for their daughter - because he's working two jobs.

And one of the two of them did say that she had a problem with this. She doesn't mind them coming over, but when they take a Second Job she can't help feeling they really are starting to nick jobs from under the noses of otherwise hard working Brits.

Let's be clear about this - the husband spends one third of the day stripping asbestos out of the London underground and one third of the day working on the demolition of a nuclear power plant and there was Fuck All Competition for those jobs from Local Hard Working Brits.

Proportionality please.