Food: From human necessity to pure amusement

Aaron Benson BEN01015@BYUI.EDU Staff Writer

The young student lies on the ground, eyes closed and mouth open wide awaiting a frozen barrage from above, while trusting in his friend’s ability to aim. Standing above the young man, she lets slide from her spoon a half-melted glob of ice cream, hoping to drop the treat in the awaiting student’s open mouth.

This is a common scene: college students finding amusement from a basic human need — food. Activities involving unusual uses for common foods are continually popular for college students.

Caitlin Call, a junior from Woodbridge, Va., tells of her experience with the ice cream dropping game, which she enjoyed with friends in Virginia.

“We got really sticky and really messy, but we all had fun,” Call said.

As a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Australia, Dax Wells, a sophomore from Basin City, Wash., tells of a game that he enjoyed called “Tim Tam Slam.” The game involves a type of hot cocoa called “milo” and a particular brand of chocolate-coated wafers.

Contestants in “Tim Tam Slam” bite off both ends of their wafer, and try to suck up a full bowl of hot “milo” through the wafer before the chocolate coating melts. Despite the danger of scalded tongues and melted chocolate, the missionaries enjoyed the home-grown game.

All of these games create a sticky mess for those who participate but, as Call said, “That’s why it was fun.”

Pudding pictionary, in which participants draw with their fingers on a table covered with pudding, and blindfolded pizza making are also popular, messy food activities.

Fun activities involving food don’t have to be messy. Whatever the activity, food has become not only a source of nutrition and energy but also of entertainment and amusement.