With the internet, I think there was a period where only one phrase could sum up how I feel about what comes out of it. Expect the unexpected. But with us being about a decade into Youtubers recycling content and social media being oversaturated with memes, it’s easy to feel like it’s getting to the point where you can almost predict what is going to become the next trend.
With the world falling victim to a global pandemic, I knew it was only a matter of time until we saw #Quarantinechallenge trending. I thought that would be a challenge along the lines of who can fit the most frozen pizzas in their toaster oven or something. But no, I was reminded that we must expect the unexpected, and the #Coronaviruschallenge would be something where we watched people who are most likely desperately seeking attention, purposely expose themselves to unsanitary areas to prove… well, I honestly don’t know what they’re trying to prove.
I feel like there is absolutely no way to get through this article without mentioning the first nuisance of a video that managed to slip through the cracks of what we call pop culture. We all know what it is, the girl who decided to hop on a plane in the middle of a global pandemic and lick a toilet seat, and the Coronavirus Challenge was born.
Now I hate shaming people so I won’t do that, but I can’t help but feel like it’s a little sad if your career as a personality or celebrity of any sort is brought about by licking a toilet seat. Not only because it’s not exactly a noteworthy action, but I’d hate to get pigeonholed as the toilet seat licker and have that be the only thing my fanbase wants of me. Now, did Tyler The Creator get on a lot of people’s radar by eating a cockroach in a music video. Yes, but eating cockroaches hasn’t been that taboo since Fear Factor came out in 2001, and I’d much rather eat a cockroach than have to lick any toilet seat anywhere ever.
The thing I didn’t like about this video, though, is that its subject didn’t stand her ground. Whether you, for some reason, think this whole pandemic is a hoax, or if you have a garage that now resembles an apocalypse bunker, this crisis is a touchy subject. And people were clearly touched by this video because outrage poured in from every direction. This response caused the creator of the video to claim that she bleached the seat, and it was all a stunt. Once you hear this come out of her mouth, all the mystique of the video goes away, and it no longer becomes a spectacle to watch. I probably knew in the back of my head that the seat was sanitized before recording, but when you pull the curtain back, it ruins the intended effect.
Public transportation is great, and living in a city where it’s will surely make your day to day life more manageable. But one thing that most all means of public transportation share, is that they aren’t necessarily to most clean or sanitary places to be. Just from my personal experience of living in New York City for a summer, I saw multiple train cars left empty due to rotting trash that was discarded inside them, and hundreds of hands run across every railing all day long.
With that being said, I would never put my tongue on any part of any public transportation. Although bleaching a toilet seat may do enough to kill germs (it’s still disgusting), I’m confident that no amount of disinfectant can kill whatever is living in train tunnels. If I were this dude, I’d be much less worried about my place in the Coronavirus challenge, and much more concerned about the multiple colonies of microscopic creatures that are now making the inside of his mouth smell like it’s been living on the street for 25 years.
This video actually made me laugh, and I can’t put my finger on why. I think it’s because of the misdirect from me expecting him to lick the pole and then rubbing his germs on it, which I must admit is an interesting take on this already zany challenge. And by no means do I condone this behavior because obviously, he can be putting other people at risk, but he’s on this list because originality must be awarded.
The question I’m asking myself is, did this guy’s friend shoot the video? Because it appears as if he was caught candidly doing this, and if this stunt wasn’t for the challenge and rubbing spit on things is just part of his daily routine, then I think this video is even more concerning than any other on this list. And if we want to dive into the genuinely gross part of this video, then we must think about what led up to this moment. Unless this guy used hand sanitizer right before putting his hand into his mouth, then he certainly just shoveled a load of germs down his throat, and any attempt to be funny is rendered useless.
I don’t really know who Diplo is nor do I know any of his music, I just felt like this video is the best demonstration of how hacky (hacky sack pun) this portion of the coronavirus challenge is. We all get it, toilet paper is a meme now, very funny, but it’s not worth flooding my timeline with videos of people throwing toilet paper around like it’s a Rocky Horror Picture Show live performance.
This video also isn’t traditionally gross, but it may be the most wholesome Coronavirus Challenge, it’s making me feel a lot of things, and I just want to list them off. Part of me wonders if that screen is too small to get the enjoyment that matches how much effort was put into making this rig, but I suppose we all have to make due in these tough times. I want to know how much time was put into making the cardboard rig because it took me a whole minute even to figure out how it was working, and I can stop looking at how much detail the steering wheel has. And while I could never have the patience to sit down and make this device, I’d instead just go buy a steering wheel for my Xbox, I can’t help but feel a little jealous that I’ve never played a racing game where my screen moved with my vehicle. I also just realized that this video is captioned “Project number 621” and I’m pretty scared to see what other projects this man has prepared.
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