As a kid, I never got that concept because it seemed like being manipulated. “I dare you to do this dangerous thing for my amusement!” Uh. No? “Chicken!” Okay, whatever, dude.
This was also where “yo momma” insults were also invisible to me. Like, “You don’t even know my mother, you’re just saying that and it makes no sense.” It wasn’t a trigger for me like it was other kids. I saw it for what it was. I’d tell my friends, “they just say that to get you mad, don’t listen,” but they’d get mad anyway. It’s like they couldn’t help it. I think dares were in that headspace as well.
I wasn’t popular growing up. I was really awkward and non-athletic, so I didn’t bow to peer pressure as much as the other kids. I was going to be unpopular either way, so…
I ended up with a pink-and-purple triple mohawk, my clothes in shreds, and my skin splattered with four different colors of dye. There was exactly one Polaroid taken of the final result and I looked like a plus-sized goblin. Sadly, the photo is lost to time.
A friend dared me to swim in a pool but there were none around so I decided to look on Google maps for someone who had a pool then go to their house climb their fence and swim at 2am. I did and rhe home owner came out and boy was he pissed. I ran and he chased me even jumping over the fences and across a few blocks before I escaped. The whole time he was threatening to beat the shot out of me which really motivated me to run.
Also both me and the guy were only wearing boxers. So anyone driving down the road would have seen a mostly naked adult chasing a mostly naked teenage boy at 3am.