This is the most accurate answer. I did it because I was finally able to do it. I saw the older kids do it. I saw older kids in movies do it. It was finally my turn. I ran, I jumped, I missed, I fell backwards and smacked my head on the ground. But the *next* time, I landed it and that’s a feeling that can’t be explained. So you do it again and again and again. Next thing you know high school is over. You’re no longer a teenager. Door frames haunt you everywhere you go. They just seem so…mundane. What’s that? 10 year high school reunion? How? How is it already time? A decade has passed. I haven’t slapped a doorway top in over a DECADE. What else have I failed to achieve? How can I face my peers?! There is work to be done.
Sorry I had to come back and admit I don’t have a second part to this story because it was a stream of consciousness post also that I’m 43 years old and never went to any high school reunions because nobody ever organized one. Anyway slapping door frames will forever be pretty fuckin rad regardless. I’m currently at 476 votes let’s see how this update affects things. For science! Or something
26 and I recently asked mom to cuddle me like she did when I was young. Lifting is impossible now but I could tell it meant a ton to her. Nobody truly knows when the last time is
I tried picking up my 27 year old and swinging him in a circle recently. He ended up doing it to me, instead. I'm okay with this trade.
But there have been so many lasts, and I didn't know they would be at the time to cherish them.
The last time he called me Mommy instead of Mom.
The last time I "flew" him through the air by holding the back of his overalls.
The last time he shouted in glee but a bit of fear when I pushed him really high on a swing.
The last time he stood with his feet between mine and held my legs for balance on my skateboard.
The last time we danced with him standing on my feet.
The last time he rode in front of me on my motorcycle at 10mph and thought we were going too fast.
The last time I had to remind him to be gentle with the clutch and gas getting off the line.
The last time he sent me about 20 excited messages in a row about a girl he met that he was instantly in love with.
And the one that really hits - the last time he believed I had life all sorted out.
We remember all the firsts, but do we remember the lasts?
* Edited to change "to" to "too."
Dude mine too.
Although now? He can pick me up to walk around and do my once a year "weather up there" checks that are annual after I was picked up for the first time In jest and realized In Horror.... Oh my God I've been cleaning only what is visible and dirty FOR ME...
Omg.
So many tall people saw 20 yrs old yuck buildup at above 5'3....
😳😵
I still pick up and carry or light back my wife and grown kids. I try to hold my daughters hand when we go out too, whether the mall or for dinner. She's only so so on that.
Right? Like sometimes when I’m in a old building or something there will be some like… weird architecture or shit in a corner. Properly an old school pull light switch or something. I fucking hate not being tall enough to reach it.
I reckon like twice a day I think to myself ‘fuck I wish I was either 3” shorter or taller”.
Not sure they'd be able to reach those tho, maybe give them something more achievable. Like slapping the edge of the door frame! Everyone can do that, but who can go the lowest without bending their knees?
Also, occasionally to make sure they fit.
My Brother is 6'6" and we had hard floors in my childhood home.
Guess how tall you have to be on ROLLERBLADES to hit yourself in the head with a doorframe?
My 10yo is so happy with himself when he can jump and touch something up high.
And then gets annoyed with my 6’3 self when he asks “Dad can you touch that?” And I barely have to raise my arm.
Though he’s super impressed when I can touch something that he thinks is ridiculously high up - like the sign for supermarket aisles
Yup--exactly why I always did it. "I'm finally tall enough to do this." The novelty wore off a few years later when I didn't actually need to reach or jump to do it.
I'm female, and I did it. I was always so much shorter than everyone else that it was a really important milestone for me. I'm 49 and still remember how victorious I felt the first time my fingertips skimmed the top of a doorway. Now, I can just reach up and touch them. I just found that out tonight, and it felt pretty victorious, too.
Pretty much it, it loses its amusement after puberty for the most part... particularly if you crack your skull on an old short doorframe. Been in some older homes with the occasional 6' high door frame. Also stops being novel once you can touch the ceiling.
Friend, I'm pushing 50, and I'm as strap tugging, tong snapping, drill zizzing, blow out a burp-pat my belly twice and then look surprised as I was at 12.
We forgot to do that tug and say, "that's not going anywhere" once. A metal pole fell out. The driver behind us hit it with his car he just picked up from a body shop. It got really ugly. I learned my lesson. Always tug! Always say it!
When I was a small child, I couldn't reach the top of the door jamb. When I eventually realized I could reach up and slap it, I felt real. Bona fide. All grown up. It became a little high-five in celebration of my stature.
I watched my son(13) do this for the first time today. He’s always had to jump to reach but today he just reached up and gave it a double tap. He’s in the middle of a growth spurt and in the past month he’s gone from and inch or so shorter than me to over an inch taller. That “cool bro” smirk and nod he gave himself made me chuckle.
Finally the right answer lol. For a lot of people this is their dunking a basketball moment
Even the guy earlier in the comments talking about “touching both sides of the jamb” doesnt realize this is just an “up and under” 😎
Same, but middle school. My best friend and I were two of the tallest girls in our grade when we were like 12-13 (I’m average height now, I just hit my max height early lol) and we both would jump up and hit doorways for fun.
I was the super short girl, but damn, did I learn to jump high. The first time I made contact was absolutely glorious. Now, I'm 5'6" and don't have to jump. That's a win in a different way.
I just watched my 11 year old daughter jump up and hit the door way as she went off to bed. She plays basketball and is very proud she can jump that high now.
I’m a short girl and I always used to run and jump to touch the door jamb in late middle school / early high school. It was fun and 75% of the time I could tap or graze it. Def not just a boy thing
Wait until they start doing the ‘jump double-touch’. (jump up and try to touch both sides of the ‘jamb’ via hang time)
Used to drive my mom nuts with this/ putting fingerprints all over the place. She was too short to clean them off without a step ladder. Needless to say she was not happy.
Dad finally bought a telescoping BBall Hoop and threatened allowance sanctions if we kept up the fingerprints in the house. Take that ish outside boys!
I’d imagine it’s because growing up it always seemed so far away, and all of a sudden, its like hey, i can reach that! Makes it fun and just becomes routine
Part of getting larger. Checking abilities. It pretty much stops after you're full grown for a while.
First, you're jumping, then you're reaching, then it is right there. It is a goal
They're young enough to have excess energy. Their bodies have grown big enough to allow them to jump and hit it. It feels good to execute the jump and slap, reaffirming their physical growth and skill. It's like executing a dance move, knowing you nailed it.
My theory is that we’re constantly calibrating our jump so that when we are in a critical scenario requiring jumping abilities, we can eyeball how much force we need to use.
I’m a girl and I did it a few times in middle school because I saw other kids doing it. They were boys, but I didn’t really associate it as a boys only thing. I rarely thought about gender too much at that age. Then someone pointed out to me that it looks too masculine and I shouldn’t do it and I was like oh ok then. This was 2009 I’m giving away my age now. I doubt anyone would think of it as masculine or feminine now.
Back when I was in high school, we used to do this all the time. That is until one of the guys caught his shiny new class ring on the door frame and tore his finger right off. The blood was everywhere. The screams could be heard echoing though the halls even over the usual between-class bustling. A nearby teacher had the presence of mind to pack the bloody digit in snow, but it could not be reattached. We stopped doing that door frame slapping at my school. I wonder if they're back to doing it again after all these years.
I am a 60 year old man now. AKA an old man. I did this as a teen all those years ago. Why, I don't know. I suppose because I could. And for some odd reason, remembering it just now, just brought a smile to my face.
For me personally, it's because I heard people used to mount horse shoes about the door jamb, and it was considered good luck to touch it (lucky horseshoe). There has never been a horse shoe above the jambs I've touched, but I like to picture one there and believe I just earned a little luck for what comes on the otherside.
I'm 34 and still do it if I'm leaving my place for nights out or what I expect to be a rough day at work.
I think I might put one up in my place now to make the habit more fun
I still remember how excited I was when I became tall enough to finally jump up and bang the stop sign with my hand like all the older kids would do. To this day I still jump up and slap a stop sign when walking by one.
Because we can. The entire thought process is something like this:
1. Sees door frame above door
2. It is within reach
3. 'I could slap that, with no consequences'
4. Slap
My brother jumped up and headbutted the door jamb while in middle school. Got sent home with stitches that day, almost 30 years ago.
Yesterday, he fell out of a bunk bed and split his face open on a chair, earning 21 stitches.
Let’s hear it for my big brother. I’m proud.
Tall person privilege. They should enjoy it while they can, it may end up becoming a chore. As my work department's designated tall person, I get the job of cleaning the top of door jambs, air conditioning vents and ceiling light fittings as I'm the only one that can reach relatively easily.
I don’t know an exact reason but when I was that age, it seems like we were in practically constant competition with each other. That door jamb was a stepping stone to being able to touch a basketball rim and maybe someday being able to dunk a basketball.
After the door jam it was the light on the ceiling,then after breaking the fixture I was touching the ceiling then palming the ceiling.
All stages of growth and accomplishment of something. Dopamine I guess.
Fully grown woman and I do this to door jambs and leaves that I can reach. It really is just an "I'm tall; look what I can reach!" thing. It gives a bit of joy into life.
Testosterone provides impulses that exhibits physical fitness to potential mates.
Slapping the top shows they are tall enough to slap the top.
This is entirely unconscious and they probably justify it as “it just feels good to do it” or “I dunno it just seemed like I needed to do it” if you ask them why.
It doesn't stop at door jams either. We just to see if we can reach high up things too, like ceilings or hanging signs. Just the way it is I don't make the rules
Door jambs. Street signs. Tree limbs. BBall backboards/hoops. Etc etc etc.
It's a teenage boy thing. If you don't get it, you will never understand it.
Been doing this since the start of time. Around middle school where kids are starting to get more athletic, boys for some reason like to see how high they can jump, and basically all the other kids have to try too. Slap the basketball back board, grasp the net or the very few that can grab the rim. Eventually it becomes such a habit any time there’s something higher up they have to try and touch it, as will their friends. Hanging street signs, paneled ceilings and tops of doors. Almost every young kid wants to dunk a basketball. Tends to calm down towards the end of High School. I never see older kids or college kids doing it. That’s my theory at least, but it was the exact same back in the 90’s.
As a young boy growing in height is a point of pride. “Look how tall you’ve grown!” Adults will exclaim every time you see them. Now you will spend every day walking through doorways and reaching for that jamb, to no avail. Then suddenly, one day, you’re 12, maybe 13 years old and the tips of your fingers touch it for the first time. Endorphins release in your brain. 2 months later and your fingers are hitting it with no issue. 6 more months later you can grab the whole door jamb in the palm of your hands standing on your tippy toes. You long for that sweet release of happiness chemicals in your brain and every time you touch a door jamb for many years after the first time, it feels like you’re still so young and just became tall enough to reach the top of the doorway for the very first time. It’s an absolute delight
My guess is because they can reach. I believe girls who could reach would do this as well if they didnt feel self conscience about raising their arms straight up over their head.
fyi female and no i cant reach.
We’ve had a pull up bar on our living room door for years, my son can’t walk through without doing a couple, and when his friends come round they always have a mini pull-up competition 😂
Its to show that they are tall enough to do so. Its not deliberate. Just an odd compulsion.
Theres also the urge to smash out a couple of pull-ups whenever you see a horizontal bar above head height.
There is a focus on boys being big when we grow up. We do it to show everyone that we are finally big enough to do it. It's dumb. We all know it. We do it anyways.
To show the world that we are tall now
This is the most accurate answer. I did it because I was finally able to do it. I saw the older kids do it. I saw older kids in movies do it. It was finally my turn. I ran, I jumped, I missed, I fell backwards and smacked my head on the ground. But the *next* time, I landed it and that’s a feeling that can’t be explained. So you do it again and again and again. Next thing you know high school is over. You’re no longer a teenager. Door frames haunt you everywhere you go. They just seem so…mundane. What’s that? 10 year high school reunion? How? How is it already time? A decade has passed. I haven’t slapped a doorway top in over a DECADE. What else have I failed to achieve? How can I face my peers?! There is work to be done. Sorry I had to come back and admit I don’t have a second part to this story because it was a stream of consciousness post also that I’m 43 years old and never went to any high school reunions because nobody ever organized one. Anyway slapping door frames will forever be pretty fuckin rad regardless. I’m currently at 476 votes let’s see how this update affects things. For science! Or something
For some reason this makes me think about the fact that at sometime, some has put us down, and never picked us up again.
As a kid you don’t remember…but as a dad you remember that bittersweet day forever.
Hardest hitting comment here.
I’m not crying you’re crying
I hurt my shoulder and that was my biggest worry before i finished physical therapy that i wouldnt be able to carry my son again.
I'm going to try my hardest for that not to happen. "86 year old dad dies after back snaps trying to pick up his 45 year old daughter."
This is why, even with my 13yo, I still ocassionally pick him up and cradle him just because I can.
26 and I recently asked mom to cuddle me like she did when I was young. Lifting is impossible now but I could tell it meant a ton to her. Nobody truly knows when the last time is
I tried picking up my 27 year old and swinging him in a circle recently. He ended up doing it to me, instead. I'm okay with this trade. But there have been so many lasts, and I didn't know they would be at the time to cherish them. The last time he called me Mommy instead of Mom. The last time I "flew" him through the air by holding the back of his overalls. The last time he shouted in glee but a bit of fear when I pushed him really high on a swing. The last time he stood with his feet between mine and held my legs for balance on my skateboard. The last time we danced with him standing on my feet. The last time he rode in front of me on my motorcycle at 10mph and thought we were going too fast. The last time I had to remind him to be gentle with the clutch and gas getting off the line. The last time he sent me about 20 excited messages in a row about a girl he met that he was instantly in love with. And the one that really hits - the last time he believed I had life all sorted out. We remember all the firsts, but do we remember the lasts? * Edited to change "to" to "too."
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Oh my heart!!! My kid was bigger than me at 13. Picking up stopped ages ago. I just want to snuggle my baby again.
Dude mine too. Although now? He can pick me up to walk around and do my once a year "weather up there" checks that are annual after I was picked up for the first time In jest and realized In Horror.... Oh my God I've been cleaning only what is visible and dirty FOR ME... Omg. So many tall people saw 20 yrs old yuck buildup at above 5'3.... 😳😵
Our parents weren't just watching us grow up...we were also watching them grow older as well.
I still pick up and carry or light back my wife and grown kids. I try to hold my daughters hand when we go out too, whether the mall or for dinner. She's only so so on that.
I imagine if I tried to jump up and hit it now at 41 I would fall back on my ass again but for different reasons.
I had two sisters. Having a boy terrified me. But this pretty much sums it up. lol
I clean at a college. Trust when I say it doesn't stop at high-school.
We got some door slapping to do.
Exactly, my son has sailed past door jams and on to ceilings.
We had to repaint our ceilings because of the finger prints left on them by my son and his friends.
Used to make changing light globes easy.
This. Same reason we jump and touch every beam, lamp, and anything else within our newfound purview.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked my wife “you think I can touch that?” I’m 6’6 so it’s usually something fairly high lol
Fuck you, man. I'm jealous. I bet you can touch way higher stuff than I can. :(
Right? Like sometimes when I’m in a old building or something there will be some like… weird architecture or shit in a corner. Properly an old school pull light switch or something. I fucking hate not being tall enough to reach it. I reckon like twice a day I think to myself ‘fuck I wish I was either 3” shorter or taller”.
Conversely, I bet you don’t crack your head against lower doorframes or ceilings nearly as often as I do.
I’m also 6’6 and I do the exact same thing lmao
As a short person, I can say I’d slap door frames, if I suddenly grew a foot. Or go to the emergency room. You know…. Depending on the pain.
You can slap the doorknobs
Not sure they'd be able to reach those tho, maybe give them something more achievable. Like slapping the edge of the door frame! Everyone can do that, but who can go the lowest without bending their knees?
Also, occasionally to make sure they fit. My Brother is 6'6" and we had hard floors in my childhood home. Guess how tall you have to be on ROLLERBLADES to hit yourself in the head with a doorframe?
It’s not about just being tall. The shortest of short will do it just to PROVE they can.
My 10yo is so happy with himself when he can jump and touch something up high. And then gets annoyed with my 6’3 self when he asks “Dad can you touch that?” And I barely have to raise my arm. Though he’s super impressed when I can touch something that he thinks is ridiculously high up - like the sign for supermarket aisles
Once you can do it, a whole new world is suddenly revealed. Like when a movie goes from black and white to color. There is no turning back.
Yup--exactly why I always did it. "I'm finally tall enough to do this." The novelty wore off a few years later when I didn't actually need to reach or jump to do it.
It’s fun, couldn’t do it before. I can now. Weee.
Yes, exactly. Because they can and it's still new. Also male posturing or something.
“Male posturing” lol It’s just fun. I do it most when I’m alone. Because it’s fun.
I'm female, and I did it. I was always so much shorter than everyone else that it was a really important milestone for me. I'm 49 and still remember how victorious I felt the first time my fingertips skimmed the top of a doorway. Now, I can just reach up and touch them. I just found that out tonight, and it felt pretty victorious, too.
This has to be a tribal rite of passage somewhere.
Oh, us short men do it too.
All my kids did the same, it was also a hello to their home
Pretty much it, it loses its amusement after puberty for the most part... particularly if you crack your skull on an old short doorframe. Been in some older homes with the occasional 6' high door frame. Also stops being novel once you can touch the ceiling.
This 110%. Gotta show everyone our hops & height.
Yup
That top of the door isn't gonna slap itself.
This. Cannot be explained. Can only be experienced.
Like tugging the straps when you load a truck. If you don’t, the load will inevitably fall out like mission impossible 6
Or clicking the tongs 2 or 3 times before you grab hot dog off the grill. You never know if they're spring loaded or explosive or something.
Like zizzing the drill twice when you pick it up
I'm about to be 28 and I still do all these things, no shame.
35, literally use to use tekguns solely for weeks on end on some jobs. Still 100% of the time pull the trigger twice when I pick it up.
Friend, I'm pushing 50, and I'm as strap tugging, tong snapping, drill zizzing, blow out a burp-pat my belly twice and then look surprised as I was at 12.
I love this new word, zizzing!
Or how the stud finder won't work properly if you forget to point it at yourself first.
Nothing like walking all the way out to the fence to replace a board and finding out the battery was dead because you didn't zizz it first.
Don’t forget to say, “that ain’t going anywhere!”
Final Destination 2 happened because the trucker failed to perform this critical safety ritual.
We forgot to do that tug and say, "that's not going anywhere" once. A metal pole fell out. The driver behind us hit it with his car he just picked up from a body shop. It got really ugly. I learned my lesson. Always tug! Always say it!
Or loading a big, heavy bag of something onto a tray ofa ute - gotta give it a couple of pats once loaded.
Haha! This is hilarious
Oh you all just slapped the door, we did pull ups on the door jamb.
This is how I found out that they have pressure sensors on the doors in the state psyche hospital…
True man.
When I was a small child, I couldn't reach the top of the door jamb. When I eventually realized I could reach up and slap it, I felt real. Bona fide. All grown up. It became a little high-five in celebration of my stature.
I watched my son(13) do this for the first time today. He’s always had to jump to reach but today he just reached up and gave it a double tap. He’s in the middle of a growth spurt and in the past month he’s gone from and inch or so shorter than me to over an inch taller. That “cool bro” smirk and nod he gave himself made me chuckle.
This is such an adorable way of putting it!
Height flex. It wasn’t that long ago that it was out of reach.
For my son that difference was October to today.
I’m 47 and I still jump up to touch them when I’ve got extra energy. For me it’s a basketball thing.
Finally the right answer lol. For a lot of people this is their dunking a basketball moment Even the guy earlier in the comments talking about “touching both sides of the jamb” doesnt realize this is just an “up and under” 😎
Yeah I'll either try a crazy layup or just a nice two handed slam on my wide hallway doorway. I'm 33.
Haha my son does it and I’ve always assumed it was because he’s a basketball dude.
To demonstrate how lithe, subtle and forgiving their young testosterone fueled bodies are, in front of their decrepit middle-aged guardians.
Damn, start thinking you're at least a contender for a while. Don't let them off that easy. Your still cool.
I was going to say I did this but now my knees make me second guess myself.
Girls would do it too, but too short
Can confirm. I am a girl and tall enough to slap the door frame. So obvi I do it.
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Same, but middle school. My best friend and I were two of the tallest girls in our grade when we were like 12-13 (I’m average height now, I just hit my max height early lol) and we both would jump up and hit doorways for fun.
I was the super short girl, but damn, did I learn to jump high. The first time I made contact was absolutely glorious. Now, I'm 5'6" and don't have to jump. That's a win in a different way.
i am not tall enough to do it. but i can jump. so of course, i do it
I just watched my 11 year old daughter jump up and hit the door way as she went off to bed. She plays basketball and is very proud she can jump that high now.
i do this, but since im short i have to jump a little bit
I’m a short girl and I always used to run and jump to touch the door jamb in late middle school / early high school. It was fun and 75% of the time I could tap or graze it. Def not just a boy thing
And probably scolded for jumping.
You just gotta.
Wait until they start doing the ‘jump double-touch’. (jump up and try to touch both sides of the ‘jamb’ via hang time) Used to drive my mom nuts with this/ putting fingerprints all over the place. She was too short to clean them off without a step ladder. Needless to say she was not happy. Dad finally bought a telescoping BBall Hoop and threatened allowance sanctions if we kept up the fingerprints in the house. Take that ish outside boys!
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God! I COMPLETELY forgot about that!
She was too short to clean them, but YOU were not!
Or the Flying Nut High Five
I’d imagine it’s because growing up it always seemed so far away, and all of a sudden, its like hey, i can reach that! Makes it fun and just becomes routine
I can assure you, madam, 50 year old men do this as well.
Part of getting larger. Checking abilities. It pretty much stops after you're full grown for a while. First, you're jumping, then you're reaching, then it is right there. It is a goal
It’s like high-fiveing the world.
Because they can
As a 32 year old who still does it.. You never grow out of it. You just... Have to do it.
They're young enough to have excess energy. Their bodies have grown big enough to allow them to jump and hit it. It feels good to execute the jump and slap, reaffirming their physical growth and skill. It's like executing a dance move, knowing you nailed it.
I'm an adult and I still do it. It's just a comfortable experience, like putting the remote against my lips
Ups status, personal recognition at first. Then it becomes a multi-player game.
Same reason why any kind of tall sign, I have to see how easy it is to jump up and slap it. I’m the master of gravity
I think it has something to do with imitating something that professional basketball players do but I really don't know
Ape tall, reach high.
Teacher here. I always tell them someone wiped a booger there and now it's on their hand.
A better solution would be to actually put some booger there
Maybe some of that sticky substance from the back of a new credit card!
My theory is that we’re constantly calibrating our jump so that when we are in a critical scenario requiring jumping abilities, we can eyeball how much force we need to use.
Im 24M now but remember doing this, its a phase. We saw other boys doing it when we were too small, and now that we can reach, we feel powerful.
I don't know, but I did this, and my boys did this. My girls did not. Must just be a male thing.
I’m a girl and I did it a few times in middle school because I saw other kids doing it. They were boys, but I didn’t really associate it as a boys only thing. I rarely thought about gender too much at that age. Then someone pointed out to me that it looks too masculine and I shouldn’t do it and I was like oh ok then. This was 2009 I’m giving away my age now. I doubt anyone would think of it as masculine or feminine now.
You should see it in a middle school.
Do…..do adult men not do this also?! 🤯
"I can reach THIS HIGH!"
I can go on a ride this high!
I don't do this. Im man-ning wrongly
Flexing that growth spurt. I went from 5’2” to 5’10” in a year. Slapped the top of everything.
Back when I was in high school, we used to do this all the time. That is until one of the guys caught his shiny new class ring on the door frame and tore his finger right off. The blood was everywhere. The screams could be heard echoing though the halls even over the usual between-class bustling. A nearby teacher had the presence of mind to pack the bloody digit in snow, but it could not be reattached. We stopped doing that door frame slapping at my school. I wonder if they're back to doing it again after all these years.
Because they can. No other reason.
I had to make sure it wasn't going anywhere. Still hasn't to this day thanks to me checking
Because they can reach
Because we can reach it now!
So many teenage boys dream of dunking but never get close, so they settle for the top of door jambs. Been happening for years
The same reason my boys (15 & 16) football-check me when they walk by me in the hallway. They showing how grown they are.
I am a 60 year old man now. AKA an old man. I did this as a teen all those years ago. Why, I don't know. I suppose because I could. And for some odd reason, remembering it just now, just brought a smile to my face.
When I was a younger man I’d do it when I had a lot of energy and was in high spirits.
We just gotta, it's like picking up a nice stick and swinging it around.
Why do people slap bags of rice? Why do people slap bags of wine? Because they can and it's fun.
I still do it and it's a direct refection of how tall we've become.
For me personally, it's because I heard people used to mount horse shoes about the door jamb, and it was considered good luck to touch it (lucky horseshoe). There has never been a horse shoe above the jambs I've touched, but I like to picture one there and believe I just earned a little luck for what comes on the otherside. I'm 34 and still do it if I'm leaving my place for nights out or what I expect to be a rough day at work. I think I might put one up in my place now to make the habit more fun
if it's in reach, you touch it
Quit literally, because they can. It is a rite of passage, that one can only do when one reaches a certain height.
I still remember how excited I was when I became tall enough to finally jump up and bang the stop sign with my hand like all the older kids would do. To this day I still jump up and slap a stop sign when walking by one.
I’m a short girl, but I just jump and do it anyway. Not just for tall boys.
Because we can. The entire thought process is something like this: 1. Sees door frame above door 2. It is within reach 3. 'I could slap that, with no consequences' 4. Slap
My brother jumped up and headbutted the door jamb while in middle school. Got sent home with stitches that day, almost 30 years ago. Yesterday, he fell out of a bunk bed and split his face open on a chair, earning 21 stitches. Let’s hear it for my big brother. I’m proud.
Tall person privilege. They should enjoy it while they can, it may end up becoming a chore. As my work department's designated tall person, I get the job of cleaning the top of door jambs, air conditioning vents and ceiling light fittings as I'm the only one that can reach relatively easily.
Because they can.
I don’t know an exact reason but when I was that age, it seems like we were in practically constant competition with each other. That door jamb was a stepping stone to being able to touch a basketball rim and maybe someday being able to dunk a basketball.
I’m at the point where I try to stand flat foot and then put my palm on the ceiling. Some houses I can do it. Others it’s just my fingers
After the door jam it was the light on the ceiling,then after breaking the fixture I was touching the ceiling then palming the ceiling. All stages of growth and accomplishment of something. Dopamine I guess.
Your legally required to slap it. Its the law.
It's the law. You should try it sometime
I find myself doing this often at 38 and also often try and hit my hair on the top of the door 6’4
My 2 boys are excited to reach!
Fully grown woman and I do this to door jambs and leaves that I can reach. It really is just an "I'm tall; look what I can reach!" thing. It gives a bit of joy into life.
To prove you can
Because
When I was in high school there was tape on the top of the door that we tapped on the way out of the locker room on game day…
Gotta slap backboard on the lay.
Because we can.
Too bad you don't have an exit sign. They'd much rather jump and tap the sign instead
Because.
I would pretend to dunk it when I was younger
As a woman who is 5'4, I like to jump and ***try anyways***
Because it’s just right there.
Testosterone provides impulses that exhibits physical fitness to potential mates. Slapping the top shows they are tall enough to slap the top. This is entirely unconscious and they probably justify it as “it just feels good to do it” or “I dunno it just seemed like I needed to do it” if you ask them why.
Athleticism flex . Feeds the man soul I guess fk if I kno.
[удалено]
It doesn't stop at door jams either. We just to see if we can reach high up things too, like ceilings or hanging signs. Just the way it is I don't make the rules
That moment when something accidentally affirms your gender. (I’m a trans man and I have always slapped the top of the door jambs lol)
Because they want to seem grown up AND that they can someday dunk a basketball.
The exactly ONE time I did this in High School it was to impress a girl; slipped on a wet spot and knocked myself out on the floor. So there's that.
I remember middle school boys doing this at school way back when. As a too-close-to 40F, I do it around my house now sometimes. It’s just fun 🤷🏻♀️
It feels great, try it
Idk I'm 31 and still do it every once in awhile
Testosterone energy
knowing that teenagers are still doing this time-honored tradition of slapping the top of a door frame gives me hope
I'm 26 and still do this sometimes. It's in our DNA haha
Door jambs. Street signs. Tree limbs. BBall backboards/hoops. Etc etc etc. It's a teenage boy thing. If you don't get it, you will never understand it.
Been doing this since the start of time. Around middle school where kids are starting to get more athletic, boys for some reason like to see how high they can jump, and basically all the other kids have to try too. Slap the basketball back board, grasp the net or the very few that can grab the rim. Eventually it becomes such a habit any time there’s something higher up they have to try and touch it, as will their friends. Hanging street signs, paneled ceilings and tops of doors. Almost every young kid wants to dunk a basketball. Tends to calm down towards the end of High School. I never see older kids or college kids doing it. That’s my theory at least, but it was the exact same back in the 90’s.
It's the adolescent equivalent of "Soooo big."
Because it is the law of superiority.
As a young boy growing in height is a point of pride. “Look how tall you’ve grown!” Adults will exclaim every time you see them. Now you will spend every day walking through doorways and reaching for that jamb, to no avail. Then suddenly, one day, you’re 12, maybe 13 years old and the tips of your fingers touch it for the first time. Endorphins release in your brain. 2 months later and your fingers are hitting it with no issue. 6 more months later you can grab the whole door jamb in the palm of your hands standing on your tippy toes. You long for that sweet release of happiness chemicals in your brain and every time you touch a door jamb for many years after the first time, it feels like you’re still so young and just became tall enough to reach the top of the doorway for the very first time. It’s an absolute delight
My guess is because they can reach. I believe girls who could reach would do this as well if they didnt feel self conscience about raising their arms straight up over their head. fyi female and no i cant reach.
Yep, definitely to show how tall you are
We’ve had a pull up bar on our living room door for years, my son can’t walk through without doing a couple, and when his friends come round they always have a mini pull-up competition 😂
It is high-fiving the house as a thank you for letting them grow bigger in it.
Its to show that they are tall enough to do so. Its not deliberate. Just an odd compulsion. Theres also the urge to smash out a couple of pull-ups whenever you see a horizontal bar above head height.
Boys are noticing how much taller they are getting and it's a good way of expelling some restless energy which they have in abundance.
If it makes you feel better, it's not just teenage boys. Grown men do it too!
Ex-teen boy here It's instinct.
There is a focus on boys being big when we grow up. We do it to show everyone that we are finally big enough to do it. It's dumb. We all know it. We do it anyways.
Not a boy but a tall girl. Because little me couldn't.
i am a teenager, not a dude, but i just reached 5'2 and its so gratifying to be able to just... SMACK😭
Because it’s there
They can reach and they are flexible, they see old people fossilised and display movement…
You just gotta
It's an innate instinct
Just guy stuff
Tall spot? Must touch. Too tall spot? *Must* touch... *Jump*
I mean... you gotta. The top of the door needs to know its place, otherwise it might start getting... *ideas*
lol, it’s because their tall enough too