Understanding Poland's Birthday Tradition

being spanked 18 times with a belt on your 18th birthday is a tradition of my generation as my parents haven't heard about it before....

no harm intended, just a bit of silliness and a teenage tradition...

just like a tradition, probably only Krakusy know about: at the night after a prom, you have to go to the Main Square in Krakow and hop on left leg 3 times around the Adaś statue... it's for good luck, to pass all the high school finals...

silly, but fun... i still remember that... :)

Never heard about spanking for the 18th, or any birthday. Must be some newer import.
Still, there is nothing wrong with a little spanking. Ask her, maybe she actually liked it ;)

They will also be chasing you, if you in Poland on wet Monday...


They tamed it down for you Horace, From what I read it is called " Pasowanie"

Maybe this is your girlfriend in the clip below?

That is almost prnographic warszawski hehe

You got to ask yourself, what type of girls, would allow themselves, to get involved in this type of ritual. I thought the end bit was funny, when her friend asked her to blow a kiss. I guess the beating made her more obedient. lol

what type is that, warszawski?

Rhetorical question, pgtx. lol

I have no clue why people are hating on our traditions you may also have strange traditions but I don't judge

I don't understand why people are hating on our traditions you may have weird traditions too but I don't judge them.

I enjoy the too few times I've celebrated Polish birthday gatherings. As I recollect, once the birthday boy (or girl) is toasted, the whole assembled body cries in unison

"STO LAT! STO LAT!", upon which normally (at least in my experience) alchohol is promptly consumed, usually either some variety of bimber or zubrowka!

Great fun.

I have seen 18 spanks for the 18th birthday - they're pretty gentle, especially for girls. A silly thing done at parties for friends, not a family party, at least in my experience.

I have never seen anyone drink bimber, though...

You just mentioned that the birthday in this case is that of a teen! Surely, I wouldn't expect for such an event serious alchohol consumption.

My experience has been exclusively at adult celebrations well over thirty:-)

There is plenty of alkohol on 18 birthday parties as it's the first one when they can legally drink. It's just the choice of alkohol that both me and Kaprys find weird. Usually it's clear wódka or beer

Agreed. I have never seen anyone drink bimber at any sort of party or gathering. And that includes events in the country. I don't think it's legal to make. Also why would you bother if you can easily buy alcohol?

Bimber sounds like something from old films like Sami swoi.
As for zubrowka, it's usually drunk with apple juice. Clear vodka (often served with juice for women or the so-called przepitka) is more common. And beer or wine, course

Yes and no. Remember meliny from socialist times? Almost everyone who was an adult in those times knew how to make alcohol or how to make nice drink from spirits. Bimber is still drunk by...drunks.

I think it comes back as something local/unique and made to be the best the host can. A bit like babcia's nalewka or Uncle's home brewed beer

I just remembered Poszukiwany, poszukiwana and ile jest cukru w cukrze :) and that was shot in the 70s, I think.
As for meliny, I don't know really but as far as I know they just dilute spirytus or Russian alcohol and then sell it. Or some other non-drinkable alcohol which sometimes results in death or hospitalisation of its gourmets ... Luckily, I haven't heard of such cases recently.

I don't think they would bother to make their own alcohol now. Not sure what it was like in the past.
As for drunks I remember they would drink jabole when I was a kid. I've heard now there's 'wine' sold in cartons :). But when I see such gentlemen consume their beverages na ławeczce, I think it's usually cheap beer or vodka, too.

But I do know some people who make their own nalewka like orzechowka or wisniowka - that's right. And that might be consumed at parties.

During the communist period artists could say things in comedies they never could otherwise, "ile jest cukru w cukrze" is a jab at the poor quality of almost everything made during the communist period (due to, among other factors, the lack of incentives for improvement)

The first time I was in Poland (mid 80s) there were lots of drunks lying around the city passed out on sidewalks or parks or at bus stops etc. That still happens occasionally but nothing remotely like back then.

That particular quote was about making bimber - that's how the guy tried to explain to 'Marysia' why he had so much sugar.

Yeah, but Polish comedies of that era could 'smuggle' certain ideas to the audience.

"Ale Marysia, mówiłem, pięć kilo w każdym sklepie!" - I LOVE that film :))


But not always. Alternatywy 4 wasn't aired when it was made because it didn't pass the censors and when they finally showed it, there were cuts and deleted scenes which were only restored to it years later.

With all that booze,"sto lat" may be hard to reach when the statistical male life span is 73.

Rural guys do. And forest guys, too.

youtu.be/DBZTMiiqN-c

So, are the spankings mandatory at all in these traditions? How about when a child is the one to receive Birthday Spankings? Can the kid refuse and opt out?

Do those hurt at all? If they hurt AT ALL, then the OP is automatically right. It's abuse, and barbaric.

Just because a tradition exists and is old doesn't automatically make it okay, good, proper, ethical and acceptable. That is a fallacy.

Just like any and ALL Hazings of any kind be they for College or Military are ALL immoral, and inhumane, and degrading and dehumanizing and should be all banned and shamed across the entire world.

It's creepy AF and should have NEVER been a thing in the first place! ESPECIALLY when done to CHILDREN who did literally NOTHING WRONG!!!

Birthdays should be about fun, not pain and misery and fear.

Anything that deliberately causes even the slightest SPEC of physical pain at all in any way, shape or form to another human being is wrong, immoral, and abusive!

And then there's also the fact of some people on here saying that maybe she liked it. Well that's the other problem. It was her own brother doing it to her. If she liked it then that is incestual and perverted because that means she got off on it.

Spanking outside of strict Corporal Punishment from a parent to a child is INHERENTLY and OBJECTIVELY sexual in nature and fetishistic such as KINK and BDSM, and cannot exist in any other way. So, it sounds to me like anyone who practices this so called "tradition" in Poland or anywhere else for that matter are just a bunch of freaks, werdos and perverts who needs serious mental help!

What is it???

"What is it???"

What is what" The Birthday Spankings? Read the thread and all of the comments leading up to mine.

This is news to me.

Birthday spanking is (as far as I know) only aplied to people on their 18th birthday celebration - and not by their parents but by their peers - still I haven't witnessed or heard about the practice from people I know (I only read about it on the internet)

Rare.

In the UK we have "the bumps" but that tends to be among primary school kids and is enjoyed by all.

It would be a good tradition to have in Poland.

We had the bumps in secondary school. It was actually a kind of socially inclusive thing. Everyone expected to get the bumps on their birthday and being ignored would be far worse! We always added one extra for luck :)

Indeed. They can be dangerous though. My grandfather died on his hundredth birthday. Perhaps we should have been more gentle.

One Polish birthday tradition I like is singing "sto lat". I was at a birthday do for a 91 year old (who by the way married a 30 year old when he was 92). On that occasion, we sung "sto dziesięć lat"...

Why not 200 years?

Why not indeed.

He died anyway. Not long after the honeymoon.