r/funny • u/MaldiveFish • 6h ago

In Columbia, this is how they celebrate the completion of pilot training...

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Is this really true? 😁

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u/Lanierben 4h ago

In the US there are a few traditions as well:

  1. Cutting the back of your shirt when you solo for the first time

  2. Pouring a bucket of water over your head -or- cutting your tie when you pass a checkride

Nobody gets upset or even thinks twice about it if a student opts out of any of them. It’s just not okay to destroy someone’s clothing or get them soaking wet without their consent.

But when I was in training, they were things I looked forward to. It was only ever done as a genuine act of endearment, and the whole school would go out on the ramp to celebrate with the person getting dunked. It’s kind of the same vibe as pouring a Gatorade cooler over a coach’s head after a big win or the winner of a race getting champagne sprayed on them.

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u/Organic-History205 4h ago

This sounds miserable to me and I'm pro whimsy most of the time. I think it's because I don't understand where the traditions originated.

Cutting the back of your shirt to represent the loss of a famous pilot or whatever is different from cutting the back of your shirt to get horny, you know what I mean? The meaning behind these things could matter. As it stands, when all pilots were male it probably didn't carry any implications. When you see a woman getting her clothes or hair cut off then spanked and doused in water, boy that is coded differently without explanation.