What is it with Balkan boomers saying everything makes you sick?
Posted by AgencyBrave9897@reddit | AskBalkans | View on Reddit | 39 comments
Like sleeping with the fan or AC on is gonna get you sick or leaving the window open at night
Kindly-Following4572@reddit
35 celsius: wet hair makes you sick, open window makes draft that makes you sick, wear slippers or you'll get sick, sladoled gives you stomach ache. It's a slav-ish thing. Ukrainian friend of the family says drinking cold water makes you sick. Armenian friend orders her boyfriend to the doctor because he had a cold for 3 days.
Smoking like a chimney, drinking rakija with every meal, krafna in the morning and čvarki in the evening, driving like madman, not going to the doctor when there's ACTUALLY something wrong with your body, are all completely safe and normal behaviours though...
Separate_Business880@reddit
My boomer dad: "All my bones ache, I'm old and sick." Me: "let's go to the doctor's, then." My dad: "what, you want them to FIND me something?!"
And the cycle repeats.
To make things even more ironic, he's a retired physician. He still has many colleagues in the workforce, he could relatively easily find a good doctor. But it's that Balkan mentality that prevails.
He also has fancy justifications like "I don't trust Serbian healthcare system" which seems logical, considering our system is f*cked. But damn.
Vac_65@reddit
What? My colleaguees to find out that i'm sick, and probably a little stupid? I have a MIL (retired doctor) from the same cloth. 🙄
Separate_Business880@reddit
LOL they were made in the same factory. It's sad, actually.
Loopbloc@reddit
It’s called caring. – Slip them warm slippers so their feet stay cozy. – Pour rakija so your guest’s glass is never empty.
Just smile, accept it, and later, quietly take it off
Kindly-Following4572@reddit
Of course, it's just a bit funny.
Tykki_Mikk@reddit
And if you happen to get sick you are to blame because of some weird hypothetical stuff like you didn’t “dress warm enough around your ankles” while you dress fine (actually better and more warm than 90% of people your age) for the season and the reason you got sick is because Maria sneezed in your face or because you got shit immune system genes from your family.
loco_mixer@reddit
Maria sneezing in your face is a valid reason
Only-Dimension-4424@reddit
But genetics play role as well since those northerners don't get sick but if southerners try what they do then most likely they become sick , and northerners are not sun resistant as southerners since they become tomato while southerners get tan
Tykki_Mikk@reddit
They do but still I have seen many southerners and Eastern Europeans wear crop tops all their adult lives and they still haven’t died from some random sickness induced by the cold. Or go out with wet hair and not get sick.
How much of it is genes and how much build up resistance to cold from gradual exposure is debatable…same with playing in the dirt, does it build up your immunity or do you not get sick because of your immune system?
I also think it’s genes that determine how likely you are to get sick in all regions , most people are healthy regardless of what they do to their bodies till a certain age and some will be unhealthy even if they follow a strict diet and guard themselves. Some people will just get sick more or have autoimmune conditions or some shit, that doesn’t have anything directly to do with the dumbass cold or even how they acted (how they ate or how they did something else) it was just predisposition . But go explain that to your grandma
im_not_creative123@reddit
Don't you DARE sit on concrete for too long or you will DIE
CoyoteKG@reddit
Ćuti, može gore...
Itsgxl@reddit
Fucking hate that exact mentality here. I have heated floors, my mom tells me I'll get sick if I don't have slippers on. I also grew up thinking drinking cold water in winter will make you sick which is bullshit. Also I had to drink lukewarm water after each ice cream . Stomachache? Bcz you walked barefoot at home. They will blindly accept any bullshit illogical excuse as to why they're not feeling well instead of admitting the actual reasons ( chain-smoking, rakija, not exercising at all, eating insane amounts of sugar, eating like shit)
Disastrous-Royal1695@reddit
AC actually makes me sick after a while. I got a huge Panasonic AC in my home and after around 2-3 days of continous use I'm starting to get sick.
Pajacluk@reddit
sleeping with AC actually almost got me sick, woke up with sore throat, luckily, the temperature dropped so low it woke me up, so I stopped the madness or else........
Cool_Election7606@reddit
Ts piss me off so much istg
Odd-Independent7679@reddit
Because they are smarter than you, I guess. They also have more life experience.
You can get sick from everything you mentioned.
cevapcic123@reddit
Dude dont have two windows open youre gonna get cholera
Illustrious-Tea-8771@reddit
Promaja
morphick@reddit
Ahh, the wisdom of the young vs the idiocy of the old, amiright?
Whole-Inspector8243@reddit
Go ahead and try it. Set the fan to blow at the back of your head all night, and then see how bad your head hurts the next day, and how stiff your whole body will feel. Trust your maijka, it’s not worth it!
H_nography@reddit
They hate that what actually makes them sick is smoking, too much coffee, too much working and eating pork.
arapske-pare@reddit
AC can make you sick, especially if you live in an apartment with high level of moisture
H_nography@reddit
I have lived with mold and with heating problems. AC doesn't make you sick, misusing it like a moron does. It shouldn't blow in your face, and it shouldn't be at such a low temperature it makes you uncomfortable.
AC makes you sick the same way being cold in general makes you sick. Just don't be an idiot, and you will be fine.
ivanivanovivanov@reddit
Not really a Balkan problem.
Kitsooos@reddit
Coffee can only hurt you, if you consume insane quantities of it and pork will hurt you, only if you eat it raw.
You are right about smoking and overworking. These 2 are killing them.
svxae@reddit
biggest bullshit i've ever heard is drinking a hot drink during the heat.
ivanivanovivanov@reddit
Because just 2 generations ago the majority of these people were illiterate peasants living in villages thinking that when it rained God was pissing. They just moved into cities and replaced the donkey cart with BMWs but the software in their brains remained the same.
OkoMushroom@reddit
Its because they grew up with lead in their drinking water &paint on their walls as well as asbestos as their insulation.
Only-Dimension-4424@reddit
Everything is beautiful now🤣they compare 50 -70 years ago today
ShitassAintOverYet@reddit
Yeah this is a good one. They look at you like a terrorist when you say "Then open up the radiator" as well.
bostanite@reddit
Not only boomers. In Greece you see 30 year old moms and dads screaming at their kids not to do this or that because it will get them sick. Like walking around with wet hair after a shower in 37 degrees weather.
Hnoot@reddit
Do not go out with wet hair. Balkan boomers grew up without basic healthcare, where im at it wasn't untill 60-70s that we had built a decent healthcare system and facilities.
tipoftheiceberg1234@reddit
It is important to note that whatever healthcare they did have access to was free and often very good doctors were sent to practice in remote/uneducated areas, which evened out the system a bit.
If we compare an Alabama village in 1960 to Skopje, Macedonia in 1960, I’d really opt for the latter
Hnoot@reddit
Are you Serbian?
tipoftheiceberg1234@reddit
No dear
Hnoot@reddit
Cool. We tend to think we were developed. No, we didn't have doctors in remote undeveloped areas, im gonna say before 70s, my parents grew up in the 50-60, teeth were pulled out by hairdresser who is also village blacksmith. My grandpa got electricity in 56, first in the village, had 1 lightbulb outside so everyone can see how rich he is, and that village is pretty close to a town, like 2h hike, super close for the time.
tipoftheiceberg1234@reddit
Well idk where your people are from but it wasn’t like that where we’re from! Yes, wayyy back in the day teeth were pulled by someone who was “good” with that type of thing, and it’s also true that teeth used to be pulled by the hairdresser in Canada, Australia, America etc… back in the day
You’d want to be in Skopje instead of mobile in 1960, trust.
PlumMiddle9456@reddit
It is not just Balkan. They have the same thing in some Asian cultures.