A 23-year-old girl, eight pounds of ramen, and a dream.
The popularity of competitive eating has continued to grow in recent years, with increased visibility of professional eaters competing at events, on social media, and even on television .
My face beet red, I mustered the strength to say it again. “Can I make a reservation to eat five pounds of curry, you know, for the challenge?” Swiftly, she hung up. How could this random website online lie to me? The rejection was brutal, but I had to endure.Given that the competitive eating scene is saturated with gigantic burgers and the longest hot dogs I have ever seen, I won’t lie, I got a bit nervous.
I went downstairs to the bodega below my apartment, but they didn’t have any heads of lettuce. My romantic view of this challenge slowly fading, I settled for two containers of over-priced romaine leaves. I didn’t feel great about this, but I had to make do. Well, I don’t have an answer for you, but call me after you’ve tried to eat chomp after chomp of raw, un-dressed lettuce.I opened the fridge and stared for a few moments, feeling lost. That is, until I spotted the Olive Garden dressing sitting in the door compartment. I considered for a few moments the consequences of drenching my lettuce in Olive Garden dressing., I thought. And before I knew it, my lettuce was covered in the liquid gold that is this dressing. I ate the entire thing..
As he approached me, my stomach twisting and turning, I asked, “ ... Can I do the ramen challenge?” He stared at me for a moment, looking at my friends and then back at me. “For you, or the table?” With a bit more confidence, I replied, “For me.” He nodded hesitantly and said it would take about 25 minutes to prepare. I nodded back, with a smile.
After three solid mouthfuls of noodles, the monotony started to get to me. I went for the broth. I lifted the bowl and began chugging. I chugged for a few solid gulps until I thought to myself that this is wrong, I shouldn't be filling up on broth. I sat for a minute thinking about my next move. Five minutes passed.
Ten more minutes passed. I started to slow down. Not slow down in a gradual, graceful sense but more in an I-can’t-put-anything-else-in-my-mouth-without-gagging sense. I told myself that all I had to do was eat one chopstick-full every minute, meaning six full bites. I agreed with myself that this felt fair, and I would still go down as an honorable contender, which really mattered to me because I needed eating a mountain of lettuce earlier to mean something. I grabbed a handful of bean sprouts and brought them to my mouth.
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