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A circus of fun, fear or boredom?

I’ll admit it: I’m not the biggest fan of clowns.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who finds their attempts at comedy boring. For me, the sight of someone dressed as a clown will annoy me rather than cause any fear — and don’t even get me started on mimes.

For many, the sight of a person dressed in whimsical face make-up passing out balloon animals and performing slapstick comedy elicits groans and rolled eyes.

A simple internet search of the term “I hate clowns” yields about 8.6 million results.

I’m convinced that there are either a lot of people out there who don’t enjoy getting pied or have been scarred for life after watching the notorious horror movie,“It”.

Currently, social media has seen an unsettling trend — one involving videos being shared showcasing people dressed as clowns attempting to scare passersby by standing in places like dark woods and dimly lit roads.

This clown craze is just a temporary one brought about as a result of internet culture. While it may seem like a joke for some, it has resulted in serious consequences for others who have taken the prank too far.

The annoyance toward these performers has escalated into fear in recent weeks as reports of creepy clowns spotted across the U.S. have increased. From the first reported sighting in Greenville, South Carolina in August to the more recent rash of reports in Southern California, with one spotted in the Cambodia Town area of Long Beach, it seems that clown sightings aren’t slowing down.

Even as people are being arrested for making threats to schools, reports of creepy clown sightings still dominate the news.

With Halloween around the corner, I’m not surprised that in an article titled, “Clown sightings: hysteria in the U.S. reaches a fever pitch,” by writer Joanna Walters for The Guardian, Walters reports that Party City, a retailer specializing in party supplies and costumes, has seen an increase in sales of clown-related items and costumes.

Furthermore, retailers such as Target have pulled the same items off of their shelves given the wave of clown frenzy that has spread across the U.S.

The internet hasn’t been helpful in quelling the madness. Social media has become a platform for these so-called clowns to achieve their 15 minutes.

Many of them tweet out potential threats and updates about what cities they’ll arrive in next to continue their reign of terror.

Forums on websites such as Reddit have become places for users to discuss whether there is some sort of clown apocalypse is upon us. Others think it’s just the work of some bored teenagers who thought it would be fun to scare the living daylights out of the public.

Countless memes have made the clown hysteria go viral. For instance, a search through the #IfISeeAClown hashtag on Twitter has users sharing images of how they would react to being confronted by a clown

Moreover, many of the “clown” videos that have been shared throughout social media include footage of people, many of them I presume to be high school and college students, attacking the antagonistic-looking clowns with bats.

Even Ronald McDonald (yes, that same red-wigged clown who peddles burgers) has felt the backlash of these clown sightings.

In Steve Gorman’s article for news and data provider site Reuters, “Target, McDonald’s react to U.S. creepy clown sightings,” McDonald’s has asked its franchise owners to cut down public appearances by the fast-food giant’s recognizable mascot in light of recent events.

It’s mind-boggling to realize that such an absurd trend has gotten to the point where a company’s whimsical hamburger-loving clown can’t even make it out to events, in fear of being beaten by a bat.

While I may not care for clowns, it’s surprising that this prank has escalated — or should I say, declined to this low point. I have enough to worry about when it comes to getting through this semester and staying on top of my coursework. I don’t want to add “clown puncher” to my resumé anytime soon.       

Are you really that bored with life that your idea of fun is to dress up as something people already have a disdain for to get some temporary kicks and giggles? I hope this will all come to an end once Halloween is over, but for now, this gal’s got a swift kick ready for any clowns looking to test me.

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