Some people will do pretty much anything for cash
“Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I’ll go eat worms…” That used to be the reason people ate worms or other disgusting things. Not anymore. The motivation has changed, and it’s incredible the things people will do for prizes or money, fame, and a good story.
Last year ASUSU held its own version of the game show “Let’s Make a Deal.” Many students did crazy things for prizes. One of those people was Emily Mueller, who sat in a kiddie pool filled with ice water for an hour and a half. And it was literally ice water. The event staff emptied bags of ice into the water as she and another student sat in it.
That was bad enough, but they added another twist. Whoever drank an entire bottle of Tabasco Sauce first got the prize. Mueller only had two big gulps left when the other contestant beat her. But the prize wasn’t worth it. All he got was a t-shirt. And her consolation prize: a jacket – which was actually better than the t-shirt. She said she was hoping to win a video iPod.
“I’ve never been in more pain in my whole life,” she said. “And it wasn’t worth it.”
Falling on our face in front of thousands of people, for example at a big event like high school graduation, is a great fear of many people. It’s hard to believe someone would do it on purpose, but that’s exactly what Nick Allen did at his high school graduation in 2003.
His friend Chris Braun said Allen was promised $60 if he tripped and fell on his face while walking up to get his diploma. Braun remembers it well.
“I anxiously waited to see if he would actually do it. Sure enough, he tripped and fell with a thud right onto his face,” he said. There were gasps throughout the crowd, and Braun said he saw Allen’s parents shaking their heads in embarrassment for their son.
“I laughed harder than I may have ever laughed before, along with half of our graduating class,” Braun said.
Allen shared a story about a crazy thing Braun did for a little money. Allen’s basement had flooded, and Braun and another friend was helping clear out the water with buckets. Allen said the water in the bucket was dyed red from the carpet, and was filled with bugs and other gunk. To add to it, their other friend urinated a little bit into the bucket. Braun was then offered $25 to drink it. And he did.
“That kid drained the whole thing,” Allen said.
Doing crazy things is a common thing for Isaac Byrd. “I’ll do just about anything,” he said. That held true last year, when he was dared to drink a bottle of hair conditioner.
He was going through a phase where he was always telling people that he’d rather do this than that. For example he said he used to tell a girl he would rather eat dirt than kiss her. Then someone asked, “Would you rather drink shampoo?”
He said he would, and then of course, had to prove it. So someone got him a bottle of Rosemary Mint scented conditioner, and right then and there he took two huge gulps.
“I freaking gulped it like it was a bottle of grape juice,” he said. Little did he know the effects it would have on him. He was sick for a week afterwards with a fever, sore throat and diarrhea. And what did he get out of it?
“Just pride,” he said.
One has to wonder why people do these kinds of things. Or maybe the more appropriate question is who comes up with the ideas in the first place? We may never know. But one thing is clear, if you need cash or even just a little attention, all you have to do is dare to be a little crazy.