When idiots show off

You hear many stories of people needlessly injuring themselves or somtimes even killing themselves just because they were trying some new and extremely stupid way to amuse themselves and their friends. Well, you can add Darwin man Alex Bowden to that list.

While entertaining some friends visiting from Queensland at a house party, Mr. Bonehead (oops, I meant Bowden) decided to set off a few firecrackers. Sounds fine, but then he took it a step further and decided to place one on his butt crack. His friend lit the fuse.
Naturally, the outcome was catastrophic for poor Alex. The firecracker burned his buttocks and several fingers on his right hand as he tried to put the darn thing out. He is now in hospital being treated for his humiliating wounds and probably his wrecked ego.
To add insult to injury his friends and his mother thought the whole thing was funny.

With alcohol-fuelled violence in Sydney frequently making news headlines (aside from the London Games, The Dark Knight Massacre and Julia Gillard's latest blunder) it's very easy to forget about the instances of alcohol-fuelled stupidity that still goes on around the country. Bowden himself stated from his hospital bed that he and his friends had a few beers, decided to set off some firecrackers and then he, in his own words, 'put one in my arse'. Did he seriously expect to come out of that stunt unscathed? It goes without saying that shoving explosives up your backside is not a wise thing to do and that the repercussions are disastrous AND embarrassing. Trying to purchase a porno magazine at a local newsagent and then presenting your order to a female cashier is nothing compared to the level of humiliation that such stupid acts like this yields.

To be fair to Mr. Bowden, if trying to entertain his friends and leave them on the floor paralysed with laughter was his goal, well then mission accomplished even if it meant that his friends were laughing AT him rather than laughing WITH him. Which reminds me, someone should tell this guy to re-evaluate the types of people that he considers 'friends'. Friends don't let friends shove explosives up their butt, whether they're drunk or not. What's next? They're going to ask Mr. Bowden to test his tolerance for pain by jumping into an empty swimming pool full of thumb tacks naked, just as Weird Al Yankovic sang in one of his songs? Yech!!!!   

Some people out there would go to great lengths to entertain their friends and well, you have to admire them for that. It's great that they've got that desire to please the people that they love most. But resorting to silly stunts that are potentially harmful and/or deadly is not the way to go. The goal is to have people laughing with you, not at you, and definitely not to have them panicking over your damaged form. Besides, that is one good way to permanently trash your personal image and ego.

It's just not worth it.