Issue #038: Giannis & Oreos: A Love Story
A romance to aspire to
If you suddenly became a millionaire tomorrow, what’s the first thing you would buy? A car? A house? Oreos? That last option may feel like it doesn’t fit with the others, but for a 19-year old from Greece, it was the perfect choice. Love at first bite, if you will.
You see, for Giannis and his family, they could never afford Oreos when he was growing up. As a result, he wasn’t able to try Oreos until he was drafted into the NBA. While most of his peers were buying cars, chains, or houses with their first paycheck, he went and bought Oreos.
He said it was all he ate for a month. He was eating and spending his money like a college kid going grocery shopping without their parents for the first time. It’s important to remember, Giannis is also the one that celebrated winning the NBA championship by going to Chick-fil-A to order 50 chicken nuggets and has talked about enjoying pizza, smoothies, and chicken wings on his off days. Lucky for him, he’s a 26-year old at (or near) his physical peak. Enjoy it while you can!
You are probably thinking, he didn’t really eat only Oreos for his first month. He was exaggerating to be funny. Well, check out this excerpt from Mirin Fader’s book about Giannis, Giannis: The Improbable Rise of an NBA MVP.
It sounds like this is made up. Like some person photoshopped this to try and be funny, but it didn’t actually happen. However, Mirin Fader also shared this same story on a podcast, so it’s legit. It sure seems like Oreos is all he had to eat in his place. He loved Oreos so much, he knew exactly how many he had and if any went missing. That’s true love, and exactly how I would be, and am, with Cheez-It crackers.
Now, as most Americans know, Oreos are perfect with a glass of milk. One of the all-time greatest duos. I’d love to go back in time to the first time someone dunked an Oreo in milk. They were probably made fun of and sent away from their village. True genius is never appreciated in the moment. I don’t remember how I learned to dunk Oreos in milk. If I had to guess, it was probably one of my siblings or friends, but how did they know? I can’t even imagine eating Oreos without dunking them in milk.
And yet, no one told Giannis about this pairing. He’d only experienced dry Oreos, until recently.
First off, that child who told Giannis about dunking Oreos in milk is a hero and Giannis should write them a hefty check for their services. Second, the way he dunks his Oreos is the correct way. The best thing to do is put the whole Oreo in the milk and let it soak before taking it out and eating it. It makes the Oreo better and the milk better. I will do it both the traditional way and the Giannis way, but the Giannis way is much tastier.
It’s so adorable to hear Giannis have this experience for the first time. His reaction is so genuine and full of wonder. He legitimately had his mind blown at this concept. So much so that he called out his girlfriend for not telling him about it sooner and has now made it part of his bedtime routine. He rediscovered his love of Oreos after years apart.
It makes you wonder what else he doesn’t know about Oreos. Does he know about Double Stuf? Does he know there are other flavored Oreos? Does he know that even though the Halloween and Christmas Oreos are exactly the same as regular Oreos, for some reason they taste better? If not, you need to surround yourself with better people, Giannis.
It’s a classic love story, boy (Giannis) meets girl (Oreos). Giannis meets Oreos when he comes to live in America and they have a passionate, but short relationship. Like a Summer romance. They separate for some time, as Giannis explores other American classics like Philly cheesesteaks and lemon pepper chicken wings. He was trying to find himself and become his best self. Years later, after Giannis wins his first NBA title, he and Oreos reconnect and live happily ever after.
See you next week!