Baboon Achievers, Kids, Media, News

Double Dog Dare

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I was amazed to read today that teenagers across the country have started taking part in an online challenge to eat laundry pods. I didn’t want to encourage anyone by clicking on any of the videos out there, but news reports say they are filled with teens foaming at the mouth, vomiting and some even passing out.

The last online challenge I remember was the ice bucket although I never understood it. I had thought it started as a “if you don’t donate money then you have to dump this bucket of ice water on yourself” and ended up as a “I’m donating money and for some reason dumping a bucket of ice water on myself”.

Both of these remind me of Flick in Christmas Story who caves to the “triple dog dare you” on the playground and ends up having the fire department detach him from a frozen flag pole. Or Marty McFly in Back to the Future who responds with fury to “you chicken?” I’ve never understood the “double dog dare”; it doesn’t make sense that you should do something you wouldn’t ordinarily do just because someone dares you.  And it makes even less sense to do something that is clearly not just unpleasant but potentially very dangerous to your health.

Have you ever done anything on a dare?

43 thoughts on “Double Dog Dare”

  2. I think some people have a death wish – Is it possible that things have gotten so horrible that a big portion of this young generation has a death wish?

    But then, I do remember something like this: you get on your knees and take lots of very deep breaths, then hold you breath as you bend over with your head between knees. Suddenly come up and raise your hands in the air (think the “Y” position in Y-M-C-A). The idea was to pass out, which is why you weren’t standing. Some people did pass out. I didn’t.

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  3. Thanks, VS, for explaining something to me. My niece mentioned something about eating tide pods in a facebook post the other day (she is not a teen and not one to eat laundry pods) and I had no idea what she was talking about. When I saw the word “tide,” I thought she was referring to the ocean tides but I had no idea of what a “tide pod” is. Now I know.

    I don’t believe I’ve ever done anything on a dare. I guess because I don’t need any outside incentive to do something stupid. I admit, though, my stupid stuff isn’t the same kind of stuff as what people dare you to do – I would definitely not ever think to eat laundry pods, dared or not dared.

    I think people should dare others to do good things instead of stupid things.

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  4. When I was of an age that “truth or dare” was THE game to play at slumber parties, I almost always went for “truth.” I am not a thrill-seeker – nor did I find it exciting to do silly things like run around the house outside in winter in my jammies because someone dared me to. Admitting to who I liked at school was so much easier.

    I had not heard about the Tide Pod thing until a co-worker mentioned it earlier this week. Then a day later an email came from Daughter’s school that mentioned it. My first two thoughts: thank heavens Daughter would not be the sort to take a stupid dare, and even if she did, we don’t use Tide Pods.

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  6. When I was 7 or 8 I ate a dead spider in the garage but not really on a dare but because my friend said she’d give me a quarter if I did. Quarter was a lot more money back then than it is now.

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  7. Right off the top of my head, I can’t think of anything that I have done on a dare, although I’m reasonably certain that I have. I remember having my tongue stuck on a frozen bicycle rack once, but as I recall, it was my own stupid idea, and not a result of a dare. Actually, now that I think about it, I’m a lot more likely to prove you wrong if you tell me there’s something I can’t do.

    When my year in Basel was up, a friend asked me what I was going to do with my bicycle. I hadn’t really thought about it but I replied that I was going to ride it home. I’ll bet you five kroner you can’t ride your bike from Basel to Copenhagen, was her response, and that was all it took. Sure I can, I said, and so I did, but wouldn’t you know it, she never paid me.

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      1. Actually, my trip was much longer than that, Steve, because I didn’t set out with a plan for what I wanted to see. I did a lot of backtracking as I discovered, by talking with other people at the youth hostels, that I had missed seeing something. This happened several times. Here are some of the cities I visited, in the order I visited them, to give you some idea of how inefficient my travel plan was: Strasbourg, Luxembourg, Brussels, Trier, Cologne, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Bremen, Hamburg, Stubbekøbing, Copenhagen. As you can see, not the most logical route. Three weeks on a single speed bike with coaster brakes, and long before the advent of lycra cycling clothes. I had taken the train from Copenhagen to Basel when I went there. A bike gave me a much greater appreciation of the distance traveled.

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        2. Very cleaver, BiR. For some reason, I don’t think of these ancient adventures of being of much interest to anyone. Perhaps I should rethink that before it all disappears into the fog of old age.

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  8. I never did anything odd on a dare. I’m inherently cautious, plus it wouldn’t bother me to be called “chicken” for not doing something questionable. My grandson is the same, and I am sure he’ll never take a dare.

    A friend once tried to get me to eat a “cracker” that I suspected was a dog biscuit. To convince me these things were crackers he ate half a package of them. I didn’t fall for it.

    I might do something difficult because I chose to try it. I once wormed my way up into a tall lilac bush that was part of a dense wall of lilacs. I squirmed my way from bush to bush without touching ground, going about 600 to 800 feet that way. By the time I emerged my skin and clothes were ripped and scarred.

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  9. OT-Today I was parked in our church parking lot, setting up for bell choir tomorrow. I was parked next to the only telephone pole in the parking lot. As I attempted to leave the parking lot, I ran into the pole. I think I was too close to the pole to notice it. My car had to be towed. The driver’s door wouldn’t open, and the mangled pieces were rubbing against the tire. Sigh.

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    1. Oh man, Renae. I bet you felt every bit as bad as I did when I rammed into the rear end of my landlady’s Ford Galaxie back in Cheyenne when I was first learning to drive. Glad you weren’t hurt, though. The car can be fixed.

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    2. Not “liking” that you ran into the only telephone pole in the parking lot, but feeling empathy with how that feels.

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  10. Mentioned this laundry pod thing to a teacher friend who is familiar with it… was relieved to hear that most kids are just faking it to do a mouth-foaming photo for Facebook. Still, apparently too many have gone overboard.

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  13. Ole and Sven die in a snowmobiling accident, drunker than skunks. And go to Hell. The devil observes that they are really enjoying themselves. He says, “Doesn’t the heat and smoke bother you?” Ole says, “Ve’re from nordern Minnesota, an ve’re yust happy ta varm up a little.”

    Frustrated, the devil dials up the heat. When he returns, Ole and Sven are in light jackets and hats, grilling walleyes and drinking beer. The devil says, “Everyone down here is in misery, but you two are partying!” Sven replies, “Vell, ve didn’t git varm veather up dere at da Falls. Since the weather’s nice now, ve’ve yust gotta haff a fish fry.”

    Furious, the devil decides to turn all the heat off in Hell. The next morning, the temperature is 60 below zero. Icicles are hanging everywhere, and people are shivering so bad they can’t wail or gnash their teeth. When the devil finds Ole and Sven they’re in parkas, bomber hats, and mittens. They are jumping up and down, cheering like mad men.

    The devil is dumbfounded, “I don’t understand. When I turn up the heat you’re happy. Now it’s freezing cold and you’re happier! What is wrong with you two?”

    Ole and Sven say, “Skol, buddy, Skol! Don’t ya know, if hell iss froze over, dat means da Vikings are going to da Super Bowl!”

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  14. Rise and Shine Baboons,

    I am not a thrill seeker at all, and I cannot think of a time I took up a dare. Steve, I love your Vikings joke!

    I see that you will be socked in with a snow storm today Up Nord. I am a little jealous, feeling the need to stock up on groceries, then make some soup. Today is a “cold day” in AZ—it is 38 degrees now, headed for a high of 58.

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  15. i am surprised that i cant think of a million examples of doing things with a dare involved. i hung with guys that called you sissy names and made fun of you if you didnt do it so it never really got to a dare we just did it. going off the rope swing, sneaking out at night to do guy stuff, jumping off bridges into the river letting little firecrackers blow up in your hand, you just did that stuff. i ztill remember the tingle i get in my leg when i am doing something scary it feels almost like orgasm. you just have to go for it and get out of your comfort zone. i did lick the wroght iron railing when some rotten friends did the trick to me. i trusted them and they left me there so i had to rip my tounge off the rail. i never trusted them after that. mike herboldt and bruce tweety both turned out to be good guys to leave behind, i had an cousin with a touch of evil that dared me to run through the field over there down to the river bank and it turned out to be itch weed. he always had a mind for that sort of thing.
    sorry i am so late getting to the trail so often . i am hoping to do better

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  16. Kids are kids
    A dare is a dare
    It make our parents pull out their hair

    We push the boundaries
    We run in front of a bus
    Making the passengers swear and cuss

    We’re growing up
    Discovering something new
    Even if our parents turn the air blue

    If we’re foaming at the mouth
    Bleeding, cuts, brushes and broken bones
    Please parents, BLOODY leave us alone

    By @BarneyBradshaw

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