OCD led man to eat 23,000 Big Macs!

pojo · Post by **pojo** » September 8, 2008 9:49 pm

Obsessive-compulsive disorder led man to eat 23,000 Big Macs

Fond du Lac man has written book about his journey
By Russell Plummer • Gannett Wisconsin Media • September 8, 2008

FOND DU LAC — Fully understanding Fond du Lac's Big Mac Daddy takes more than sorting through every box of memorabilia, wrapper and proof-of-purchase cluttering his home.

Don Gorske, 54, hit his latest milestone when he ate his 23,000th Big Mac last month. He vows to continue even when the Military Road McDonald's — where his lips first met two-all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun — closes for renovations.

But the physically fit husband, father, traveler and author has more layers than the sandwich he adores.

It's an obsession that began May 17, 1972, when he got his first car. Inside a safe box, he has all his receipts. Inside his head, however, are distinct memories of how his Obsessive-compulsive disorder mixes with numbers, dates and facts in a way his wife, Mary, just chuckles at.

"People might as well know how things like (OCD) get started," Gorske said. "I shouldn't say my parents fought a lot, but they did. My dad was constantly on my mom to penny pinch. If she would leave the faucet on, he'd yell at her. If she left the stove burner on, he'd yell at her.

"When I was really small, one of the first things I remember is she would say, 'Donny, can you make sure, before dad gets home, that the refrigerator is shut and the burners and everything are off?' I literally touched everything in the kitchen. I would go to the bathrooms to touch everything to make sure everything was off and the doors were shut."

The bond between mother and son was so strong he skipped a Big Mac the day she died upon her request.

Gorske became fascinated with numbers before he entered school. His mother helped him track odometer readings from family cars and he used subtraction to determine average miles traveled in a week. Now, he is employed by Waupun Correctional Institution and deals with dates and numbers daily.

Big Mac love
For Gorske, seeing McDonald's track its number of customers served only motivated him to track his share eaten.

His desire to keep records has even trickled into the 205-page book titled "22,477 Big Macs."

The book — which Gorske typed using one finger and double-spaced between every word — was published May 2. He started the book Jan. 4, 2006; the day after Mary's father passed away.

"I started the book the next day because he was the last grandparent of my kids," Gorske said. "Now I am the grandparent. Her dad had a lot of memories he wished he had written down. I was not going to do that. (His death) was a motivator for me."

Mary said she helped delete every extra space in the book and assisted in shortening it for non-family members.

Asked if her husband's OCD bothered her when they first met, Mary Gorske said she didn't care, she was in love.

Asked if he thinks people think he is little crazy for eating 23,000 Big Macs, Don Gorske said he doesn't care, he is still in love.

"I promised myself I would eat a Big Mac every day no matter how bad things got," he said. "The best thing of the whole day was the Big Mac."

Russell Plummer writes for The Reporter, Fond du Lac.

http://beta.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs. ... 80480/1979

RinglingRingling · Post by **RinglingRingling** » September 8, 2008 10:05 pm

ok....

blackjack · Post by **blackjack** » September 8, 2008 11:57 pm

Being a fat bastard led me to eat 21,000 Quarter Pounders with Cheese...or was it the other way around?

pinacolada lover · Post by **pinacolada lover** » September 9, 2008 5:15 am

tikitatas · Post by **tikitatas** » September 9, 2008 7:07 am

OCD is real.

Big Macs? Not so much . . .

Skibo · Post by **Skibo** » September 9, 2008 8:16 am

Maybe the real root cause was living in Wisconsin. Those winters can be pretty mind numbing.

flipflopgirl · Post by **flipflopgirl** » September 9, 2008 8:21 am

wonder what his cholesterol is...

dnw · Post by **dnw** » September 9, 2008 8:59 am

Sanjuro's tequila · Post by **Sanjuro's tequila** » September 9, 2008 9:03 am

This wasn't the Big-Mac-a-day guy they interviewed in "Supersize Me" was it? If so, he was actually pretty thin!

ragtopW · Post by **ragtopW** » September 9, 2008 9:07 am

that is pretty crazy...

I mean if it had been Double- Doubles from In-N-Out.....

Salukulady · Post by **Salukulady** » September 9, 2008 10:22 am

Make him stop.......wonder what weird sh!t his kid will do......

Staredge · Post by **Staredge** » September 9, 2008 10:27 am

I have a slight touch of OCD myself. Nothing that I can't control, usually. Thank God it never took that form!! I don't think I could eat anything 23000 times in a row.

chippewa · Post by **chippewa** » September 9, 2008 10:33 am

ragtopW wrote:that is pretty crazy...

I mean if it had been Double- Doubles from In-N-Out.....

Animal style....mmmmmmmm!

But that guy wasted about $40,000 on Big Macs?

RinglingRingling · Post by **RinglingRingling** » September 9, 2008 10:40 am

chippewa wrote:
ragtopW wrote:that is pretty crazy...

I mean if it had been Double- Doubles from In-N-Out.....

Animal style....mmmmmmmm!

But that guy wasted about $40,000 on Big Macs?

and he has the receipts to prove it.

Frank4 · Post by **Frank4** » September 9, 2008 10:42 am

Oh my...can't someone take medication for OCD

chippewa · Post by **chippewa** » September 9, 2008 10:46 am

Frank4 wrote:Oh my...can't someone take medication for OCD

Yes. Every day at exactly 8:17, 2:56, 6:35 and 10:02.

SkoolGrl<3 · Post by **SkoolGrl<3** » September 9, 2008 10:52 am

chippewa wrote:
Frank4 wrote:Oh my...can't someone take medication for OCD
Yes. Every day at exactly 8:17, 2:56, 6:35 and 10:02.

rednekkPH · Post by **rednekkPH** » September 9, 2008 10:57 am

Frank4 wrote:Oh my...can't someone take medication for OCD

Yup - 2 all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese...