01 Mar The Dangers Of Trying To Impress Your Crush
Our episode titled Pool Party sucked me into a black-hole-of-curiosity. I felt I had to ask myself, “Is trying to impress someone for the sake of gaining their admiration worth it?”
And I found showing off for the sake of catching the attention of your adored one can be dangerous. Not only do you risk being rejected and having your heart broken, but you could also end up breaking the rest of your body parts too.
Many people struggle through an age-old, internal conflict – one bred out of insecurity – when they think that if they can impress a beautiful person, it will lead to admiration.
Some musicians first pick up a guitar so they can strum the heartstrings of the one they feel yearning for. But even something ‘simple’ like playing an instrument can be treacherous.
According to Frontiers, “In a sample of high-performing young musicians…three-quarters (76%) of the surveyed participants stated that they had experienced pain during or after playing their instrument.”
Some chefs sprinkle that special ingredient called love into a dish for their special someone.
However, what might not pass through their mind before they grease their frying pan of love is that the NFPA states that “Cooking was the leading cause of reported home fires and home fire injuries in 2015-2019…ranges or cooktops account for three-fifths of home cooking fire incidents.”
There are many ways of attempting to catch the eye of your crush and they all have their own risks. One popular method, especially among young adults, is binge drinking.
There will always be party people that believe swallowing the most amount of alcohol out of everyone at a soiree will win the favor of their desired mates.
Some of them slam highballs, they sip cocktails or shotgun beers. Or they see their crush hanging out by a keg, they climb on top of said metal barrel full of booze, and they do a handstand as their friends hold their legs in an awkward pose and squirt beer into their faces.
And for those people, that’s romance.
However, keg stands can cause injuries.
According to the NSC, “Nonfatal emergency department visits are dominated by fall-related injuries, accounting for 33% of all preventable nonfatal injuries.”
That said, it’s not only the fall that might hurt them. If their crush rejects them, it might just hinder their confidence. Enough that they might feel the need to binge drink their feelings away and that might be the causation of their next hospital visit.
Saltwire states that “Alcohol attributable outcomes” account for… 3.9 percent of emergency department visits for everyone over 15 during an average year in Ottawa.”
That’s almost 4 people out of 100 probably getting their stomachs pumped at the end of their Saturday night.
If I can take anything away from getting sucked into this black-hole-of-trivial-detail, it’s that next time I find myself considering drunkenly playing guitar as I perform a keg stand while at the same time frying a grilled cheese sandwich, at the very least, I’ll hopefully ask myself if injuring myself to impress my crush is worth it.
Read the story featured in our Pool Party episode here.
Josh Ackermann escapes his desk job by writing in his free time. One of his short stories, One Helluva Headache, was published in the English Bay Review. He’s currently revising two of his first novels. And he’s is the creator of the Falling For Stories podcast; among many other titles.