Balconing, planking and plumbking: How stupid can you get?

I've just read about the latest craze: plumbking. This unfortunate practice consists in adopting different poses on top of a toilet (I'm serious). Some individuals even go to gross lengths and put their head inside the bowl. The recent phenomenon is a variation of the equally senseless activity called planking, which has people lying face down in a straight position with their arms beside their body, using for that purpose almost any flat surface they can find in a public place.

Just like balconing in Spain - where some tourists jump from a balcony into the hotel swimming pool - engaging in such activities only goes to show the stupidity of some people who seem desperate to impress others with their crazy antics (a more appropriate term to describe it could be "plonking").

That wouldn't pose a serious problem if such activities, for instance, were confined to an alcohol-filled night out with the lads. In that case, the antics would go nowhere. But the whole point of such behaviour is to take pictures and publish them on social networking sites for all the world to see... and imitate. That can be dangerous.

Sadly, there have already been several deaths as a result of following those crazes  (most of them from balconing). It is highly irresponsible to encourage such behaviour and I like to think that no sensible person would ever dream of boasting about those stupid poses.

Unfortunately, some people do need to get a life. Why can't they have fun without putting their own life (and others') at risk? Why can't they pursue normal hobbies and interests just like any other responsible citizen? There's the rub. Maybe they haven't been brought up to be responsible citizens . Worse still, they might not want to behave like them.