planking?

another new craze has just hit town and i'm of course referring to the indulgence of planking.

for the uninitiated, planking is lying face down, with a straight body, hands by their sides and toes pointing to the ground in any public place - the stranger the better - and posting photos in a social networking site, usually facebook.

is planking new?

well, not exactly, if the claims by two groups who invented this kind of 'activity' is true. one group in somerset in the year 2000 and the other, 8 years later in south australia.

"Planking was a term myself and two other mates came up with roughly in the summer of 2008 or 2009," says 25 year-old Sam Weckert, a carpenter living in South Australia.

but planking comes with high risks as there was the reported death of a man in his 20s in australia who fell from a balcony railing in brisbane as he was being photographed by his friend.

my comments:

for insurance policies, an exclusion in the form of taking part in activities that are deemed to be high risk may include hunting, caving, potholing, mountaineering or rock climbing necessitating the use of guides or ropes, underwater activities involving the use of underwater breathing apparatus (other than undertaken for leisure purposes), sky diving, hang-gliding, paragliding or parachuting, trekking trips or expeditions (unless otherwise agreed by us), motor rallies or any kind of racing other than on foot or any sports in a professional capacity.

my opinion is that if planking 'catches on', this may be another activity to be included under policy exclusions.