It could’ve happened to anyone.
Last Sunday evening, Josh Landry sat down to eat a turkey sandwich and some pretzels while he watched an episode of the HBO vampire drama True Blood. But what was supposed to be a normal television watching experience took a tragic turn when, minutes into the program, he made a terrifying discovery: He was done.
“Sandwich, pretzels, I’d already finished them both and they were still listing the actors’ names,” recounted Josh, who managed to survive nearly 55 minutes of television viewing without a morsel of food. “At that point, you think to yourself: ‘Should I stop watching and get some food?’ ‘Should I keep watching without any food?’ I didn’t know what to do. I just didn’t know.”
His options, at that point, were limited. He could’ve gotten up to get more food, but that would have required him to leave the room, and hence fall behind in the episode. He wasn’t recording the show and it was on HBO, so pausing it or waiting for a commercial were out of the question.
But even if he made it to the kitchen, there would still have been obstacles to finding food. He knew he had some tuna left in the fridge, but he wasn’t sure he really wanted tuna right then. He might’ve been able to order pizza, and somehow convinced the deliveryman to enter his apartment and bring the food directly to his couch so he wouldn’t have had to go to the door and miss some of the show. But his phone was dead. Delivery was not an option.
“I honestly didn’t think I was going to make it,” said Josh. “I swear there were several moments when I just wanted to give it all up and watch the episode later with my roommate on his HBO GO.”
But Josh never did give up. And after minutes and minutes of watching the show, he was ultimately able to finish the episode by surviving on only half a can of soda and a breath mint he found in his pocket, miraculously walking away from the ordeal having sustained only minor hunger.
Today, Josh is doing well. He says he still enjoys watching television regardless of his harrowing episode, but has now dedicated himself to occasionally educating friends on how to ration food to last throughout an entire television experience.
“I never thought it could happen to me until it was too late,” said Josh. “I guess I just feel lucky I was able to hang in there, against all odds. It was a pretty good episode.”
