Cold Drink = DEATH

A conversation with a friend reminded me of a Polish phenomenon that affects the entire nation. If you drink something cold, you will die. If you apply a cold compress, you will die a painful death. If you so much as open a window when it's breezy, you will suffer severe health consequences. All these things are as if law here. In a restaurant, getting a glass of water with ice is akin to witnessing a miracle. One has to ask, and endure the quizzical looks and quirky smiles of the waiters.
There is a deeply entrenched opinion, probably passed down by generations of grandmothers, that all cold drinks cause instant pneumonia. I laughed at this, until I personally witnessed to what extent this psychological conviction affects everyone. My uncle once drank a cold soda that I had put in the fridge, because there was nothing else to drink. Within minutes he was coughing, and clearing his throat, and complaining that he just "caught" something. He proceeded to be sick for a few hours, and narrowly avoided a full-blown cold. No one in the country seems to want to accept that viruses cause colds, not cold drinks, and that those cold drinks don't directly cause infection. Even doctors here will say the same, and seem to come from a medical background completely different from what one encounters in the States.