Bit

Hot Ones

Have you ever watched a grown man pour himself a full cup of Pepto Bismol and subsequently chug it to stave off the excruciating spiciness of a hot wing?

No? Then, you have yet to be introduced to the YouTube series, “Hot Ones,” where the host Sean Evans interviews celebrity guests as they both eat progressively hotter wings.

After watching a single episode, you will become familiar with how spice level is measured—the Scoville heat unit—named after a test developed by the American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville in 1912 to measure capsaicinoid sensitivity.

My favorite episode of “Hot Ones” features Gordon Ramsay. Not only because of the aforementioned chugging of Pepto Bismol, but I love Gordon Ramsay for several other reasons:

1) His kindness towards children on MasterChef Juniors and absolute evisceration of adults on shows like “Kitchen Nightmares.” The double standard isn’t subtle. (Warning: video includes f-bombs…if you know anything about Gordon Ramsay already, I know this goes without saying).

2) His advocacy for wearing helmets while biking—particularly after a bike accident of his own that left him with one gnarly hematoma. Like him, I always wear a bike helmet when bike commuting to work.

3) His eponymous line of dinnerware is actually quite nice…I was lucky to marry into a set which my wife was gifted by one of her aunts. If you don’t know where your plates and bowls come from, I implore you to flip them over and take a look—if only to verify that they are both microwave and dishwasher safe.

Last, a fun fact about Pepto Bismol is that despite being a pink liquid, it can actually temporarily turn your tongue black. This is a result of the bismuth (the active ingredient in Pepto Bismol) reacting with sulfur in your saliva to form bismuth sulfate—a black substance.

Oh, and I should probably mention, it can do the same thing to your #2.

Thank you for reading and have a fulfilling weekend!

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