IamA 18 y/o who sat on a pole for 52,5 hours non-stop AMA!

I'm going to ask whats on everyone heres mind, why???

There is really no reason why we do it actually. The main reason is tradition, another reason is beacuse it is a lot of fun for the spectators,

The mainreason for me to do it because i think it's quite badass and i wanted to see if i could make it

What created the tradition in the first place?

Well i am not sure, it's a villagers tradition

hour twenty six: they are still sitting on poles.

So glad we came to watch this! ;)

hahaha it is not about that! it is alot of fun to be a spectator, there is music and alcohol and games on the dyke

I bet it really is fun. 52.5 hours is insane to be sitting on a tiny little square board type thing. Much respect for that.

Thank you very much !

wait so all the spectators get to fun drinking and dancing and playing games while you have to watch them while you sit on a pole for 52.5 hours? That just made it a lot harder...

Yes! it seems a bit harsh but watching people having fun is entertaining aswell.

Was it relations with your father that drove you to the pole?

Nope, i said to a friend of mine " if you're going to participate then i'm going too"

He was making a jab at strippers (see: pole dancers) and their common underlying issues with their father.

Sorry i am still very sleepy so i didn't see the joke (:

How do you handle going to the bathroom?

We had a pipe to piss through (to prevent from pissing all over your bag), and when you had to shit you just pulled your pants a bit down and just shitted in the water

I don't know why, but your usage of "shitted" almost made me cry laughing. Bravo!

Thankyou! English isn't my first language and i'm quite tired so i did not know what to say there

While everyone watched.....wow.

you could turn around for a piss ofcourse, but you had to face the audience when you're going for number 2

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It is so white that the spectators would be blinded by my ass

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hahahah

How many poops were born by your bum

2 were born in the water. 1 Saturday at 4:00 AM and 1 Sunday 8:00 AM

so specific <3

yes you want to shit when there is not a big audience

Are there / were there still a lot of people around in the "early morning hours", like those? (specifically 4:00 AM).

nope, only the radio and boat service. so literaly nothing to see. except sunday morning not 4:00 but 6:00 because there were alot of drunks still raving at sunrise

What would have happened if you had just climbed down or fell off? Would you have to restart from the beginning or just climb back up?

When you fall off it's game over.

No second try ever?

Nope, so if you fall a sleep and fall of if you are clumsy and you fall it is game over

Is it possible to take quick naps without falling over?

Not really, you can sit for 15 seconds with your eyes closed but that is risky because you can fall asleep really quick

Falling into his own & his neighbours shit sounds awesome!

Kids swimmed in the water because it was that hot, they did not care one bit that they were swimming in our shit and piss

Are spectators allowed to throw things at the participants?

Yes, but only for the good, (throwing candy or a drink etc)

So they can't throw things to try and knock you off? Do they hurl insults? If not, what fun is it for people to go somewhere just to watch someone sit down?

Nope they aren't allowed to do that, there is music and a food and drink cart on the dyke. it is more fun for the spectators

Was it hard just sitting there doing nothing?

That was the toughest part, From 4:00 in the morning till 11:00 there was litteraly nothing to see because there were no visitors. on top of that, i had the worst pole (Nr15) so i had only one friend to talk to

You should have started a yelling contest then ! Then you could have yelled to pole 1 if you pleased

Yelling to pole 1 was possible but i have talked the most with my neighbor and the one next to him

Did you sing any songs? I feel like this is a good setup for a chorus.

Yes we sung some songs when we needed a energy boost, this one for example Evil Activities - Nobody Said It Was Easy

Hey! you said you were going to sleep! Go rest, mister!

Good choice of song. I love that one :)

But really, the pic is pretty awesome. You had nice little umbrellas. Will you do it again next year? I think this is one of the nicest and oddest village traditions I've heard, thanks for telling us about it. It's fun to learn about stuff like this.

Sorry i should be asleep indeed but i wanted to check reddit just one more time before going to bed haha. I will do it again next year but only if there is not enough people, there are always 15 poles but not always 15 people who want to participate so i will compete if there isnt enough :) Thank you very very much for your kind comment

try to yell after not sleeping 40 hours bro

All I can typically do after not sleeping that long is yell or whisper.

scream and shout and let it out

Wouldn't pole number 1 have the same problem? Why not arrange the poles in a circle?

Pole 1 has a bigger audience because there were more people standing in front of the food and drink carts.

Why do Europeans use , instead of . In numbers?

Hmmm i am not sure what you mean, sorry

So, besides the other participants, was there anyone else who was present the entire time? If no, considering you were at the end of the group, did it ever cross your mind to try "entertaining yourself" while you were sitting there?

My parents were there a lot of the time except at night and at dinner time. There was also 24h Boatservice and 24h radioservice to provide some distraction and entertainment.

of course there were ours and ours of just complete boredomness

Did anyone fall asleep?

Are you allowed phones? :P

Nobody fell asleep, your neighbor always keeps an eye on you to prevent you from falling asleep Phones were allowed!

And if you don't have a waterproof phone, that's one big reason not to fall in the water.

well i had my phone around my neck in a waterproof phone baglet

Were you allowed to bring things to amuse you? Books? Handheld games?

Yes, but it isn't recommended to read or do handheld games because you lose the abillity to stay on the plank because you get distracted too much, on top of that, it isn't really nice for the person sitting next to you.

"That's right, guy next to me! I'm over here becoming a Pokemaster, and all you've done in the last two days is shit in the water! What a fool you are."

Hahaha this made me laugh out loud

what is the meaning of this tradition?

It has no real meaning, it is just for fun for spectators and challenge for participants

But how did the tradition start? There must be some kind of story behind it.

There sure is a story behind it but sadly i don't know it :(

I noticed you were sitting above water. How bad were the bugs? We're you allowed to use bug spray?

Bug spray was allowed !!! Saturday night there were an awful lot of bugs, but luckily no stingy mosquitoes.

Was it uncomfortable?

Yes, very

Did you realize that most people seeing this title will click on it thinking it is the story of a superhuman sexual feat?

hahaha i realise that but it sure isnt

What is your favorite Netherlands food?

Wow i'm not sure, my favourite dutch snack is a stroopwafel, jodenkoek or a kroket

mmm stroopwafels

When a stroopwafel becomes "bol" ( old ) put them in the microwave for 4 seconds 900W, they taste like heaven again

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Well it is impossible to sit just on the round pole, this still counts as "pole sitting".

my ass still hurts because you sit on just a small wooden plank, ( no pillows etc allowed )

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Lot's of love, A good story to tell when i'm old, and a lot of respect

Much respect is earned by shitting off a pole in public in the old country

it's quite hard to shit from a pole after 60 hours of no sleep

Did you get your parasol/umbrella from Lidl?

I sure did !!! it was €7,- and the parasols head can twist so it's pretty good for pole sitting

I knew it! I have the same parasol!

10/10 would buy again

Did he survive? I mean having someone sitting on you for 52 hours might be a bit of a strain and why a pole? Wouldn't anyone else do?

All the poles survived (Y)

What did you eat while you were up there? and did you just pee into the water, or into the water bottle hanging below?

Just bread in the morning and afternoon, sometimes a snack. Friday evening: Spaghetti Saturday evening: Fried rice Sunday evening: Wraps

Edit: the bottle contained water for drinking

what do you think about during those hours...? :P

Everyting! Sundaymorning was so boring!! on top of that it is quite common that people start to hallucinate the third day (Luckily i didn't)

What did you think about all that time?

Look for the answer to /u/pinkwaff1e

Did anyone fall off/screw up in any way?

What did you personally bring for amusement?

What are some things you weren't allowed to bring?

Do you still have any pain from the event?

What do the signs under you say?

• 1 stopped because his feet became really painful and big, and 1 stopped because he did not like the fact that he started to hallucinate.
• i had nothing except my phone to entertain myself. *Alcohol, Drugs and something to sit on werent allowed. *Yes, my ass still hurts a bit.
• 1 Sign is: J.terpstra, that's my name. and the orange signs are sponsors.
• Thank you very much for all these questions :)

Were you not allowed to take a break to use the bathroom?

Indeed, no bathroom breaks

But.. Why?

because we can

How do you handle the daily necessities of life (eating, drinking, and the inevitable consequences)?

Edit: Grammar

we had a boat service (as shown in the pictures) when you needed something they could bring it to you. I also had food in my bag and water to keep me hydrated handing in the water

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Answered to /u/plusharmadillo

Did anyone get hemorrhoids?

I don't think so, everyone did got a rash on their bum but that is just because you're sitting on a planky for so long non-stop

How bad did your ass hurt?

It felt quite bad, it still hurts a bit now but not as bad as it was

Do you win a prize for staying on?

There was no prize but people you know (family and friends) could give you a "premie" (a bonus), i think that i received about 700 euros

That's almost $1000 USD Hell, I'd sit on a pole for a weekend for a lot less!

do you think you could make it ?

How sore was your ass?

Really really sore, still is

After being on a pole for that long, I can imagine your ass is very sore...

Very true !

What is the strangest that happened on that pole?

for me nothing really, some guys started halucinating though!

About what? What was it like?

He started seeing carrots in another guys bag, then he asked to him, why do you have all these carrots?? - there were no carrots

Did anyone try to pole dance?

Nope haha, we just sat there. we did stand sometimes on the footsteps

Next year...you dance.

i sure will !

How did he stay hard for that long?

Viagra ^{^} Happy cake day!

Googled Paalzitten for more information.

What preparations did you do before going atop the pole ?

Accurate but that wikipedia page mentions a Pause/Break sometimes to go to the toilet. a lot of Pole Sit events allow it but ours dont allow to get of the pole'to go to the toilet

then.. how do you do it? (serious) do you do it inside the pole?

no you move your ass like 30cm back,you shit in the water, you wipe, done :). if you have to piss you turn around and piss through a pipe

After it was all done, how long did you wait before you willingly sat down again?

when i got home i showered and after that i had still 5 minutes before the car arrived to get into the pub, so i sat for 5 minutes on the couch, it felt like heaven !

Has this experience given you any new insight on life that we chair-sitting peasants might otherwise lack?

Not really! but because there is nothing to you start to think about life alot though

How often did you doubt yourself and want to get off the pole?

What was the diameter of the pole

i had no "dip" there wasn't a moment that i thought i wanted to get off, Sunday morning was really tough though, because there was nothing to so/see diameter of the pole was 18 cm i think

Did you have to go through any especially bad weather while sitting up there?

Yes, Extreme heat saturday, and the night between saturday and sunday we had thunderstorms

did all 15 people make it the entire time?

Nope, 1 had to stop because his foot became purple and10 times as big because of a bug bite, and 1 quitted because he started halucinating and got scared. so 13 people made it to the end

If it had started to thunder would you have quit?

Yes, we got lucky that we diddn't had to quit because you don't break the record (every year they add 1 minute to the total time so that it's a new record every year)

How high was the pole?

Edit: Also, how many people fell off or didn't 'win'?

2 got on the boat because they had to and/or wanted to quit the pole was about 2,30m high

Oh that's not as high as I thought, I was imagining 30 Metre high poles

No haha that would be insane, you can take a look at my proof to see how high it is

will you do it next year? how many times did you nearly-fell?

Do you know the feeling when you miss a step on a staircase and you get that weird feeling in your belly ? i had that like over 50 times. it really gives you a scare when you get that. yes i will probably go next year aswell

Hello fellow dutchman! How did you handle the extreme high temperature last Saturday? I couldn't handle it much even laying still.. yeah, the dutchman like to wine about the wether...

Edit: typo

Loads and loads of water! drinking water and spraying water on myself and my neighbor. even though we did that it was extremely hot. I';ve been to Death Valley in 53C but this felt worse because you couldn't do anything about it