The most unexpected part of the whole ordeal came from my choice to ensure that “high fives must meet above the head.” I’m six feet tall, and a quick check on Google places the average height for men in the US at 5′ 9″, women at 5′ 4″, and have you ever noticed that kids’ heights are just all over the place?
So I squatted down to eye level for anyone shorter than me, which included a lot of kids. After all, a kid sees a world record being set, and they want to be a part of it because they’re the ones currently obsessed with the books. So, after 3,131 high fives in about 6 hours, with most being shorter than me, roughly half the high fives being from kids meant an unexpected leg day for me. You can probably guess that 1,500 squats in that amount of time isn’t the best idea.
I set a world record for high fives for no reason, and the result was painfully toddling around for about a week after, but ultimately …
Despite My Whining, It’s Still Really Cool To Have A World Record
I didn’t know what to expect that day, but it turned out great. A good group of friends helped me out by setting up, counting along, and witnessing the attempt. I didn’t have to take a bathroom break, which was something I was very worried would nullify the “same space” rule. And there were only — dare I say — a handful of jerks who thought it’d be funny to high five me as hard as they could.
Since 2008, my record has been beaten a number of times, and I’m pretty sure someone had already beaten mine while my certificate was in the mail. To my knowledge, though, I was the first to officially set the record (cue internet probably proving me wrong), and I’ll always have that certificate on my wall, and it’s always a fantastic conversation starter.
Blake Rodgers
“And they will again, Ann. They will again.”
Plus, should my non-existent kids ever actually come into existence, I’d like to think they’ll be proud of their dad for setting a world record. Maybe they’ll even cut me some slack when I refuse to pay extra for laser backgrounds on their school pictures.
Blake Rodgers is originally from Rhode Island but lives in Chicago. He occasionally writes for a handful of websites but now mostly throws axes for a living, which is a statement that never gets any less weird. You can follow him on Twitter at @TheBlakeRodgers.
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