Source: panoramio.com
Polish tradition has it that today, the day after Easter Sunday, is Śmigus-Dyngus. (Say it with me: SHMEE-goos DIN-goos.) Loosely translated to Wet Monday, it’s a sanctioned day of harassment that originated with the boys splashing the fairer sex with buckets of water early in the morning. And, Wikipedia tells me, “striking them about the legs with long, thin twigs or switches.” Ok, that’s kind of messed up.
Eventually, the girls caught on and realized the boys shouldn’t have all the fun. Today, it’s morphed into a free-for-all. Sort of the Polish man’s April Fool’s Day. I usually take silent note of my Śmigus-Dyngus obligations on Easter Sunday, but the notion evaporates with Monday morning’s post-holiday food haze. But for some reason, the prank snapped into my consciousness this morning. I scurried into the bathroom, wet my hands under the cold faucet, then ran to my husband, flicking my fingers in his direction. I was so pleased with myself for finally remembering. He was not. I should have done it before he put on his freshly pressed button-down.
In the spirit of this Polish day of punking, here’s a round-up of some (Totally Safe For Work) Wet Monday pictures.
Source: kopka.id.joe.pl
Source: wyborcza.pl
Source: nadarzyn.tv
Source: kami-kazen.deviantart.com
Source: fakty.interia.pl
Source: national-geographic.pl
Man, those Polish spring breakers are CRAZY!!
Here all this time I thought it was invented by Jackie Bisset in ‘The Deep.’ It was the Poles all along!
What a unique tradition. Who knew?
That one pic is scary, where they’re holding her arms!
After I posted this, I realized there was a lost opportunity to write some pretty awesome captions to go along with those photos. In the first illustration, it sort of looks like he’s throwing a bucket of wind on the girl, no?