I almost beat Dave Starcher in the impromptu sand-eating contest during recess in second grade. I choked down handfuls of dirty sand but he finished his pile first, just ahead of me. It was small satisfaction that I did swallow more than another boy. I kept thinking, “If only I had gotten that first mouthful down faster I could have won!”
That sand wasn’t good going down; it was memorably uncomfortable coming out over the next four days. Think “extruding sandpaper.”
How did I get into this ridiculous situation? What possessed us to hold a sand-eating contest? What could we possibly gain? [Read more…] about Second in the Sand-Eating Contest