Other Crap

Norwegian Prisoner Hires Exotic Dancer: "Hoping to boost morale among his fellow inmates, a Norwegian prisoner secretly hired an exotic dancer to spice up the prison's monthly culture night."

• This is one of the things we used to chat about in Norway. The country has a large underground agricultural economy. It is not possible to pick Norwegian crops at Norwegian wages and sell them on the international market. The cost would be so high that it would drive the retail price out of the market. Therefore, in the late 80s and early 90s, the Norwegian growers would hire lots of Polish migrant workers at discounted wages. The system worked for everyone. The Polish people were thrilled with the discounted wages. They would live outdoors in Norway, spending almost nothing, then take all the money back to Poland, where it had tremendous buying power. The Norwegian growers could sell their crops competitively, and the consumers got a great product at a great price. Everybody happy. Only one problem (besides the fact that it was illegal, which everyone ignored). Why should Polish people live non-criminal lives while they are in Norway? For most of us, we don't commit crimes because of the fear of getting caught. For the Poles in Norway, so what if they got caught? In fact, they were happy to be caught, because life in Norwegian prisons was better than life in Poland!!
• This info is dated, of course. I left Norway in 1992, and everything is different now. Life in Poland now is probably better than life in Norwegian prisons.
• Except on "culture night", of course.