Some people have gotten bored while in quarantine. Very bored. And, while in much of the country that has translated to a desire to pretend that the danger is somehow over, in areas that are dealing with an outbreak most people are wise enough to not venture down to the nearest beach or entertainment centers.
That leaves people like entertainment center owners just as bored as anyone else. In one case, the owner of Knockerball & More decided to try to have some fun with it.
A knockerball is basically a giant inflatable bubble that people can climb into, leaving their legs exposed. Then they can run around, while bumping into each other or falling to the ground with no chance of real injury. Knockerball is also the name of the sport, also called “bubble soccer”, played while wearing the huge things.
One might correctly believe that a knockerball facility in outbreak-heavy New Jersey might not have much business right now. One might have trouble guessing what type of pet a knockerball facility owner owns, though. In this case, the person who runs a business focused on inflatable objects has a pet hedgehog…. a creature nicknamed “spiky ball of angry doom” by one of our family friends.
The owner decided to amuse himself and some of his friends by creating a small obstacle course for his pet, Pepper. Hedgehogs like to run and climb and can be surprisingly fast when they wish. A little quarantine challenge seemed like a great idea.
It was… the video was shared and viewed more than 57 thousand times, and it’s encouraged him to create new courses at a rate of one every week, the third of which has now been viewed more than 110 thousand times. Pepper and her owner have been featured by a variety of websites and even been guests on The Tonight Show, while other hedgehog owners are now creating their own courses and uploading them.
Hopefully the money made from ad revenue and the new T-shirts (available at myfriendscallmepepper on Facebook) will help keep his business afloat (sorry, couldn’t help but put in the inflatable pun) while covid-19 is still spreading in the community. And, of course, keep Pepper in mealworms and berries so she can keep her strength up.
Question of the night: Are there any small and/or local businesses you’ve been trying to support during the shutdown?
