Why are people so afraid to give children cold drinks?
That is all.
No, wait, there's more.
Summer before last we had a 4th of July party and invited some of the neighborhood children for the fireworks. They also ate some chips and some drank some drinks. One such child, we'll call him "Jack," was having fun, eating, drinking, joinign int he revelry. His mother came to check on him, enters the yard and immediately rushes to his side...
"You haven't drunken anything cold, have you?"
Jack: No
"are you sure?!"
Jack: Yes, I'm sure, I haven't drunken anything cold.
I mean, this mother was worried. Really worried. I don't know what she would have done if he had said yes. I don't really want to find out.
Weird.
Fast forward to this past 4th of July...
Jack is back. Eating and playing. And then Jack gets thirsty.
"Excuse me, sir, do you have any drinks that are not cold?"
Martin looks in the ice chest full of ice and cold beverages, water, beer, juice, soda.....
"No, I'm sorry, but this soda hasn't been in there too long, it's not too cold, do you want that?"
Jack feels the bottle, "no sir, I can't have that. My mother doesn't allow me to drink cold drinks."
Major props to Jack for being so obedient. Seriously. The kid was thirsty and he followed his mother's instructions. Way to go Jack.
Now for my REAL question. How scared did his mother make him of drinking cold drinks, that a child of 8 would be so terrified of cold drinks so as to forgo drinking anything at all at a party? I mean, I felt bad for him. (and we did find him something in the end) Then again, maybe he's just an obedient child and, like many children, doesn't quite understand why he can't do something, but he was simply following the rules.
Again his mother came to join us and again she asked him if he drank something cold and Martin walked right up and said.
"No, he didn't, he said you wouldn't like it, he did just what you told him."
She smiled. All was well.
But, seriously... cold drinks. What't the deal?
(I have had people not want to sell me drinks because they were cold and I had children with me, like clearly I wouldn't want the cold drink since my children would be drinking it and they seemed quite flabbergasted when I actually asked for a cold drink, or ice.)
To round out me question for today I will share with you something that happened not 2 hours ago.
I go the store with all the kids, walk in a store and attempt to buy a water.
Lady asks me: "kjfhahkckjhsoivhsvn, cieplo?"
"Przepraszam"? (ok, she wants to know something about the water, she's holding the bottle up and talking about the water being warm... but I pulled a cold one out of the little fridge so.... ugh, Kacio where are you ? Veronica stop pulling my hair!... "Hejjo, go find Kacio!" Felix, please stop teasing you sister!)
Lady asks again: Do you want a warm one?
Um, um, (whatever! I just want to buy the water and leave, why the heck is she asking me this, I don't understand??! Is the cold water broken in some way? Is it rotten? Expired?...)
"Tak, tak, prosze." (when in doubt be polite and nod)
She went and put back my gloriously cold water and returned with a room temp. one.
Sigh.
I mean, I understood the question, but I didn't understand what she meant by it. Why is she even asking this question? I grabbed the cold one on purpose... you do SELL cold waters!
Double sigh.
Oh, Poland, you gotta give me a break here.
(next time I'm just gonna skip to the worst sin ever by asking her to fill my baby's sippy cup with... dun, dun, dunnnnn... Woda prosto z kranu! Mwahahahahahaha....)
It's obsession. People believe that kids throats will be sick from it. I don't know why, my son drinks cold drinks and he is fine.
ReplyDeleteThe same problem is with hats - small children have to have hat. Always. No matter what weather is. :D
It's all the fault of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers and their beliefs and superstitions. Also, kids are not allowed to eat ice cream in winter. Drinking tap water is strictly forbidden, as if may cause ... I do not know what. Letting your children go outside without a hat covering ears is considered as a crime. Lol
ReplyDeleteI work with international students, and I have heard similar restrictions from a number of other ethnic groups . Americans might be the outliers here. See the link below for other great stories about this difference. I think a Brit calls American' s love of ice in our drinks an ugly habit.
ReplyDeletehttp://ask.metafilter.com/165370/Will-a-cold-drink-on-a-hot-day-really-make-me-sick
My friends are all confused by me giving my child cold drinks as well. When I tell people that we chew on ice they almost drop to the floor. Like Monika wrote, Polish people truly believe their child will become sick and get a sore throat from drinking something cold. I would say same thing with slippers even on hot days.
ReplyDeleteI'm Polish, and have lived in the US for 10 years; I still cannot stand cold drinks. I thought I would get used to it after some time (every cup here is FILLED with ice) but I still avoid ice and refrigerated drinks. I might just have sensitive teeth :) However, every time I order something without ice, people stare. It is usually followed by "but the drink will be warm". Trust me, even when it is 100F I would still rather drink something at room temperature then to have a brain freeze :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, at my first restaurant job I served my first few drinks without ice and customers were quite surprised. I learned very fast :D
So this is the reason for it: ready? Gardziołko!! Bo się gardziołko przeziębi! This is the bane of my childhood, as my grandmother was truly obsessed with it and even as a young kid before I ever left Poland I LOVED cold refreshing drinks. But my grandmother was the only one who cared. I'm surprised to hear it has stuck through the younger generations. I mean, this is the country that had "ciepłe lody" for the kids during the cold months. No kidding. Yes, warm ice cream. They were served in a cone and tasted sort of like sticky melted marshmallow. Sigh.
ReplyDelete