But at noon Sunday, on a deserted pier along the Delaware River, a bearded man in a white sleeveless shirt sat down at a makeshift table and stared intently at the board as dozens of people gathered around from him. Get ready to cheer him up in the final stage of his self-imposed challenge: devour 40 roast chickens in 40 days.
Perhaps a man named Alexander Tominski, 31, is the one to offer them salvation after a miserable weekend of defeat.
“All about that bird!” sang. And eat it.
In less than an hour, Mr. Tominsky, a waiter at a city restaurant, had eaten his forty rotisserie chickens in as many days, completing the kind of odyssey that has stunned and enthralled thousands of people on the Internet and brought a moment of joy. brought to blows city, a chance to shout and declare victory to the man who has now been dubbed the “Philadelphia Chicken Man”.
Philadelphia man finishes 40th rotisserie chicken
Over the years, it has gained internet fame for its quirky picks, often food-related. There was a man who recently finished last in the Fantasy League and spent 24 hours at the Waffle House restaurant. (For each waffle he ate, an hour was deducted from his sentence.) For most of 2021, there was another man who ate a free Krispy Kreme donut every day.
However, these challenges often stem from losing bets, philanthropic efforts, or trying to get an audience for your brand or channel. Tominsky, who was born in Rhode Island and moved to Philadelphia in 2014, has no personal brand or channel. He said he never lost a bet and never made a decision to make money. Instead, his search for the chicken began with a real, almost existential purpose. Mr Tominsky said that much of the world is suffering, so we should do something that causes pain to make others smile.
“That sounds weird,” he said. “But I felt I was doing this for a very important reason.”
He said he was originally happy and planned to eat roast chicken for 30 days. The challenge was extended another 10 days after he felt the challenge had not gone far enough. At first there was no pain. He ate chicken in 20 minutes. But after a few weeks, he started having cramps, bloating from all the sodium, and said he thought he could “feel my heartbeat in my stomach.” It took him about two hours to chew each of the chickens, which, she pointed out, were always fully eaten and usually his only meal of the day. (He lost about 16 pounds in 40 days.)
“It’s just a little bit of discomfort and sacrifice for the happiness it seems to bring to people,” Tominsky recalled at the time.
In his first public post on the October ordeal. 8, after reaching day 11 of the challenge, traces of a faint smile could be seen on his face. In most of the remaining images there is no smile, only a frown, her hand on her head, and a look that seems to reach us: Help me.
40 Chickens in 40 Days: How a Philadelphia Man Cheered
“Pain is part of it,” he said. “Ill-treatment, torture – it’s all part of the experience.”
What can you learn from eating a dozen chickens? Well, he said, I’m like a “sensory bomb”.
He said dark meat is very salty and fatty. White flesh is dry. When you stroke or grab the flesh, his fingers are smoothed, and the sound of sobbing is drawn back each time you dig deeper. During his final 11 days of the challenge, Mr. Tominsky said he chewed the chicken, put it in his mouth, and washed it down with water. “I was actually drinking chicken,” he said.
Still, Tominsky thought it was worth it, because the downside of eating 40 chickens “seemed microscopic compared to what the world lives and sees on a daily basis.”
“It may sound strange, but if I had lost this for some stupid reason, I would have been okay with the sacrifice.
His city has kept its promise with accolades. Some asked if he could run for mayor or president. One person said a photograph of Mr Tominsky revealing his ship during Sunday’s challenge was in the museum’s collection. On Sunday, as Mr. Tominsky was about to finish his last savory bite, he got up from the table, faced the crowd and played Bruce Springsteen’s “Philadelphia Streets.”
“There is no angel who will revive me,” Mr. Springsteen said. Then Mr. Tominsky raised his hand in the air and shouted his copy of the next line: “Only you and me, my friends!”
