This story, reported by CNN, caught my eye this week:
A pilot has died after the plane he was flying as part of a gender reveal party in Mexico crashed on Sunday. Video posted online shows the plane releasing pink smoke as it flies over a couple waiting in front of a sign that reads “Oh baby,” surrounded by pink and blue balloons.
I’ve never been invited to one, but gender reveal parties have always seemed dumb to me. We didn’t know our daughter’s sex until she was born. But even if we had asked the obstetrician — who knew by looking at an ultrasound exam — to reveal it to us, we would never have thought it was a reason to have a party and squeeze more gifts out of our friends and family.
The CNN story also includes this bit of history:
In Iowa in October 2019, a gender reveal party went south when the family unintentionally built a pipe bomb.
Wait, what? Unintentionally built a pipe bomb? “Yeah, my wife was in the kitchen making brownies and I was in the garage playing with some PVC — it’s a hobby of mine — and I must have accidentally added some explosives.”
The story goes on:
When the device went off the entire pipe exploded, sending shrapnel flying that hit and killed a grandmother standing nearby.
In retrospect, I’m guessing grandma would have been happier finding out the baby’s gender in a phone call.