Canadian attracts crowd that attempts to eat 5 pounds of potato salad at cemetery
Riley Merry is a Canadian champion.
No, he’s not a national sports star and he hasn’t found a revolutionary medical cure for a life-threatening illness.
But he managed to eat 3.5 pounds of potato salad in the rain in a Halifax cemetery, while a huge crowd showed up to watch and cheer him on.
Now, we know that sounds very random – and believe us, it is.
But Merry decided to do something no other Canadian has attempted to do before, and he deserves to be honored for his laudable potato salad-eating efforts.
It all seems to have started when Merry posted flyers all over town asking people to go out and try to eat 5 pounds of potato salad over the weekend.
“Half my town (over 300 people) comes to watch me eat 5 pounds of potato salad on Saturday, it might be the most boring talent I could pursue. I have an interview with 3/4 different news channels on this ordeal tomorrow,” Merry said in a message he posted in the Facebook group called “Dull Men’s Club.”
The group seems to be a place that encourages its members to post boring and mundane things about their daily lives.
Riley Merry/Facebook
But it seems like people didn’t find Merry’s quest boring at all.
At 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 18, Merry drew a sizable crowd to Holy Cross Cemetery, as spectators came to cheer him on as he attempted to down 5 pounds of potato salad while drenched in the rain.
It was not an easy task.
As the crowd watched Merry shovel spoonfuls of soggy potato salad into his mouth, he continued with determination.
Halifax Noise/Facebook
It appears he only managed to eat 3.5 pounds before putting his spoon down, but Merry’s valiant efforts did not go unnoticed.
On Reddit, Merry was considered a “legend”, with commenters praising him for becoming the hero they didn’t know they needed.
The legend. Potato salad man in action. 3.5 pounds down.
byu/advantage inhalifax
“It’s always a winner for me,” said one commenter.
“What an extraordinary day for Canada, and therefore for the world,” said another.
“This has the makings of a Heritage Minute,” said one Reddit user.
Although the show has not yet been officially recognized as an official Heritage Minute, the internet was quick to take action.
Imgflip/Screenshot
Someone was so inspired by Merry’s determination that he created an oil painting of the very night he set out to write the story.
Potato salad in the rain
☔️
Oil painting on canvas by me#halifax #potato salad #oil painting pic.twitter.com/28ShoeOTp– Shannon Dawn (@Sarradis) November 20, 2023
As Merry recovers from consuming more potato salad than anyone should ever eat in one sitting, he hinted that he may soon be making a comeback.
“I have a feeling you’ll see the potato salad guy again one day,” he mysteriously wrote on Instagram.
We don’t know when he’ll return to do the next potato salad challenge, but we know we’ll be watching and cheering him on.
