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Recalling the dares of old, and thankful for survival
We're not proud of it, but boyhood leads to 'Dare ya!' moments most men would like to forget
Date published: 2/15/2009 By Rob Hedelt EATING DIRT, These are just a few of the dares taken by either me or my friends growing up. I don't share these goofy deeds to defend them, but to acknowledge the fact that, by the time most typical males reach adulthood, they've faced the phrase "Dare ya!" a mess of times. The subject arose this week when I wrote a column about getting a pedicure. It wasn't really a dare, but it was challenging because it required going into the female-dominated world of the salon. One male friend responded, "Hey, twinkle toes, good thing they didn't dare you to put on lipstick and a miniskirt!" I took the good-natured gibe in stride. But it reminded me of the not-so-subtle peer pressure boys face growing up. Namely, the dares and challenges that caused me and my friends to do stupid things. Such as: Jumping off the Kinsale bridge at midnight into pitch-black water below. Crawling into a storm sewer with cousins, going a half mile underground. Riding my bicycle with banana seat and butterfly handlebars up and down a nearby gravel pit, crashing onto loose rock with much more force than anticipated. Tossing my uncle's prized Siamese cat into the Potomac River to see if it could swim, and being glad to learn it could. (We did have a boat and net on standby in case it couldn't.) These things started innocently, shifting somehow to the not-so-subtle overtones of challenges. "Whatcha wanna do today?" Byron or Billy Others of us would share a list of things--riding bikes, tossing footballs, building forts and the other stuff we'd done the previous 642 afternoons. Suddenly, someone would seize on something stupid or ridiculous enough to pique our interest, to challenge our boyhood. Like "Hey, let's see what earthworms taste like!" Or "Betcha cats can swim!" Or "Let's go over to the gravel pit and see who can nail the best crash!" Like I said, we weren't rocket scientists. Our list of stupid dare behavior is extensive: piling apples in the road so cars would mash them into applesauce; using acorns to nail each other; trying to ride cows. Thankfully, most of us eventually grew out of the worst of this behavior. Though I think a touch of it is with us all life long, surfacing when we're challenged with something as daunting as a pedicure. Or crumbling at peer pressure and signing up to run a marathon after age 50. Sure, some of it's ego. But another part of it is wanting so badly to take the smirks off the faces of those hinting we're not up to the challenge. Rob Hedelt: 540/374-5415
Date published: 2/15/2009
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