Reposted by Marta Zboralska
I'll always remember something a colleague said early on in my career, soon after we finished grad school together: "Academia is not a meritocracy." I've been regularly reminded of this truism during my subsequent years in the profession
![My husband and I own a house which we rent out and for the past five years we have had a young Polish couple living in it. They are lovely people.
They are polite and considerate. They both work and are eager to learn new skills. They do not however appear to mix, beyond work, other than with their Polish friends and five years on D can still barely speak English. I am not at all sure talking to them that they are here [to] embrace British life but merely to take advantage of what this country can offer them and because they do have possibly a better work ethic and certainly a willingness to work for a basic wage it does feel they are taking from British citizens. A court of human rights would say it was their human right to work here but my daughter has no job although she was born here and wants to work - she is not working at present, because her employer cut her hours and she is better off on benefits than working and she can't pay the rent with principles!?](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:lhj5duo65durmplzjv55ewhd/bafkreigfenphgectk5pfezfznygtiymcigkr24ilsvdoc4mq4hpr42j2wa)
