Tuesday, August 21, 2012

The Deadly Sin of Gluttony

I stopped in at  local watering hole for a little libation.  I perused the menu and noticed this:

It's a challenge item, which I presume means the softball team cannot come in and order this concoction.  Instead, if one chooses to accept the mission, you order it and try to hork it down in 45 minutes.  That's a lot of food, all of which will add plenty plaque to the old arteries.  Eating all that, fast mind you, should also present a certain level of crisis to the old g.i. tract.

I understand there are other challenges in town.  Like this.  (Thanks Cory!  BTW: Check out Food Falls!) Eat a bunch of stuff fast and immortalize yourself on the old Wall O Fame.

This trend, if it is one, is the natural consequence of television shows like Man v. Food with Adam Richman.  Or, the Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest featuring the likes of Joey Chestnut and that guy from Japan who battle to see how many hot dogs can be downed in a certain amount of time.

Whatever this trend is, it's stupid.  And, if I may say so, a little shameful.  It's just gluttony.  Here in the United States, we are absolutely blessed with an over abundance of food.  Good, wholesome, pride of producer grains, fruits, vegetables, fish, seafood, and animals-- and not just the overly processed crap that we turn all of it into.  We have it much better than the rest of the world.  The fact we are too arrogant or stupid to realize and respect that is a whole different topic.  I digress.

To me, gluttony implies a notion that one can obtain so much that one can be as wasteful as one wants, to the point where one really doesn't care about the fact others go without.  That's a sin.  It should be.  Really, watching an eating contest on television where competitors see how many hot dogs they can down in 5 or 10 minutes and beaming it around the world somehow instills patriotic pride?

This kind of thing is just stupid.  Sincerely.  Eat three pounds of chips and waffle fries?  Complete with yellow cheese goo?  That's a challenge?  I decline.

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