Stupid Stunts

Recently while at a friends house I became interested in what was on the TV. They were having one of those countdown shows- you know the top twenty…. This one was about stupid stunts that people, (mostly men actually mostly boys) had done. Not only done but had also caught on tape!
I was laughing hysterically at some of these stunts! God bless my dear friend for allowing me to watch. I don’t think she was enjoying it quite as much as I but then she never had sons. She was finding it hard to believe that these boys could be so stupid. I, on the other hand found it very believable. I am the mother of five sons.
In my family, finding a wood tick was a treasure. The boys would run to our gas stove, turn it on and lay the tick close to the flame. Why, you ask, did they do this? Because somewhere along the way, it had been discovered that ticks pop when heated! Just like popcorn! The boys would be glued to the spot while waiting for the heat to do its thing and giggle crazily when it popped. It was extra fun if the tick was bloated and full of blood.
I have yet to find a boy or man for that matter who will not laugh his head off when seeing someone else get hit in the you know where place. It’s the weirdest thing. Go to the movies and every man will be cracking up at the classic ball between the legs stunt. But it’s not so funny when it happens to them! I don’t get it!
Get boys in groups of two or more and I think the collective testosterone fries brain cells. It at least seems to affect the “What will happen next?” part of their brains. It’s really true- they are incapable of thinking past the actual act that is being considered. The show I was watching proved it over and over again.
There was an incident in my family many years ago. We were living in a 100yr. old Victorian house that had needed much work. We only had one of its thirteen rooms completed at the time. It was the boy’s room. Imagine my dismay when while tucking them in their beds one night, I noticed about 10 small round holes in the plaster ceiling!
I asked what had caused the holes. They had been caused by the plunger. “WHAAT?” was my response. Apparently, they had been throwing the plunger at the ceiling to see if it would stick. Half the time it did. Half the time the wooden end of the plunger hit instead. Hence, the small round holes!
I was furious!! I can see that the game sounded like fun. I can see how cool it was when the plunger stuck to the ceiling. What I will never get is that after the first 2 or 3 holes were made, why didn’t it occur to one of them- oh, this might not be a good idea? It’s not rocket science!! But boys will be boys, fried brain cells and all!
That’s the view from my side of the street, what’s yours?