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Some bad holiday gift ideas are clearly ridiculous.

(See this article for what to give that someone not-so-special.)

But others toe the line — trends can be open to interpretation.

For example, the “big trend” this year for the holidays is the hover board. Maybe it is because of Back to the Future Day (October 21, 2015). Or maybe it is just our fascination with tech. Either way, if you haven’t been living under a rock you’ve heard about hover boards.

By name, you’d think a hover board actually, well, hovers. But the versions currently gracing covers of every marketing brochure from Sharper Image to Bed Bath and Beyond, and every mall kiosk across the country, are billed as a rechargeable, eco-friendly electric vehicle that balances itself automatically to give you a smooth, comfortable ride around campus or around town.

Genius! Cool! Trend-setting! I just had to try one…

Carrie on hoverboard

Carrie's broken arm
I did pretty well. And then a few hours later tried again. And fell. And broke my wrist.

Like these people: http://wjla.com/features/7-on-your-side/hoverboard-dangers

And then the stories got worse. Fires were breaking out. New York banned them. Airlines banned them.

This is probably not what Marty McFly had in mind …

So the moral of this story? I think the hover boards rapid popularity quickly became its downfall. Other trends that might have the same legacy?

chia yellowcs thing

Ride at your own risk. 🙂