ABSTRACT
Newsweek Polska is a Polish weekly news magazine, published as an independent local edition of Newsweek. The magazine circulation in March 2009 was 192, 000. It is a more provocative and, at the same time, thoughtful magazine than its economically troubled American parent, which converted exclusively to an on-line format in 2012. Among other things, it specializes in investigative reporting, as in this piece on loafing at the workplace. The present article capitalizes on the Polish national proclivity for either exaggeratedly praising or, at other times, exaggeratedly denigrating the Polish national character. Despite the claim that ‘the Polish national speciality is wasting time at work’, Poles at the office are probably no different from office workers anywhere, and if they do occasionally put their feet up on the desk, it is usually because their work is badly organized by those higher up.
