Hands on a Hard Body - Benny's Story

Who is Benny?
- Texas resident
- 2 time Hand on a Hard Body winner
- "Everyone else was wearin' shorts, but I had on the tightest pair of blue jeans I could find...I just wanted the extra support."
- admits to feeling bad for those who don't win, but it gives him an adrenaline rush

Theme #1: sleeplessness
- need to understand that the body can go without sleep, but the mind cannot and that's what drives people insane.
- "What happens is you go insane...you have to give the mind a rest or you start going slowly crazy."

Theme #2: competition vs. camaraderie
- "I told Dan, the guy I was with, I said 'You're standing next to the devil and this is the ride to hell. I'll stand here 'til the day you die, so you might as well drop out now."
- it becomes harder when there's only 2 people because you're surrounded by respective family and friends and other bystanders
- once competed against a man who he knew really needed the truck and told him that if it came down to the 2 of them, he would drop his hand
- "All your friends and family are there, all his friends and family are there and there's fans cheering for one of you."

Theme #3: mind games
- need to somehow understand what it feels like to stand next to a truck for 3+ days.
- Benny convinced himself that the truck was a piano bar and that the back of the truck was the back of a piano and everyone around him was also at the bar
- "You just get numb."