A few years back, it became a thing for young people to eat Tide Pods.
I’m not talking about the tragic, accidental consumption of candy-colored detergent packets by toddlers, rather, the deliberate eating of soap to rack up clicks on TikTok or other social media platforms.
Yes, it’s stupid. But so were jitterbug marathons in the 1920s, goldfish eating contests in the 30s, and hula hoop contests in the 50s. People have plunged to their deaths during flagpole sitting contests and literally danced themselves to death during the Great Depression while trying to win prizes. Had there been TikTok 100-years ago, we’d have video proof our grandparents were just as dumb as we are.
Today, the lure of instant social media fame has led to a tsunami of “challenges,” mostly benign, like replicating the choreography from popular music videos, but some insanely dangerous, like the “Black Out Challenge,” where people hold their breath until they pass out, or the “Fire Challenge” where they literally set themselves ablaze. Darwinism in action, right?
However, the latest social phenomenon is something worse than knuckleheads offing themselves while engaged in risky business. Suddenly, performers on stage have become targets for object throwing idiots.
Last week, Cardi B hurled her microphone into the audience after a fan threw a drink at her during a performance in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, Cardi’s microphone missed the drink-tosser and struck a 26-year-old who will, undoubtedly, soon be lawyering up and suing the notorious WAP rapper.
Cardi B is the latest in a growing list of performers who have had fans throw things on them or at them during a gig. In 2022, Harry Styles was hit in the eye with a piece of candy while performing in Sweden. Bebe Rexha was injured when someone threw a phone at her during a June performance. Ava Max was slapped by a guy who jumped on to the stage in L.A. and Kelsea Ballerini was hit in the face with a bracelet in Idaho. Lucky for Kelsa it wasn’t a baked potato. (Full Disclosure: I never heard of most of these people either, but that’s beside the point.)
Tossing things onto stages in tribute to beloved performers is hardly new. “The opera ain’t over until the fat lady sings” or the last bouquet of flowers land at the footlights. It’s not unusual for 80-year-old Tom Jones to end his shows in a fusillade of G strings sling-shotted in his direction.
In 1970, the great New Orleans trumpet star, Al Hirt, was hit in the mouth by a brick thrown during the Mardi Gras parade, requiring 19 stitches to stop the bleeding. A devastating injury for a brass player whose lips are his livelihood. In 2012, Cher Lloyd ended her show early after being hit by a thrown bottle, So too Morrisey in 2009.
Reggae singer Toots Hibbert was hit in the head by a glass vodka bottle, and in one of the stranger demonstrations of “affection,” Pink was sprayed with the ashes of a fan’s deceased mother when they were tossed onto the stage during a concert. If you tried to pull that stunt when Frank Sinatra was alive your liver would have been sent to your next of kin in a mayonnaise jar.
Inevitably, these incidents will have repercussions for the multitudes of concert goers who have never, and would never consider throwing something at the performers they love. Security barriers will go up, safe zones will push fans farther away from the stage. Once again, a few nuts ruin it for everyone.
Concert goers told NBC News because of pandemic cancellations, many people attending shows today “forgot how to act” at live events. Could that be true? Somehow, because of COVID restrictions, people forgot that throwing a glass vodka bottle at a performer is not okay?
Maybe the Tide Pod eaters are not the dumbest among us.
Doug McIntyre’s column appears Sundays. His novel, “Frank’s Shadow” is now in stores and online. Doug@DougMcIntyre.com.
