1.) nose hunger happens when you leave the building in the predawn hours and the scent of bacon or baking bread cinches against the stomach
2.) hunger of social convention is when one eats a slice of granny’s pumpkin pie because one can’t be rude, even though one just scarfed down a burrito moments before
3.) the desperate hunger of the lanky kid I once saw in a cafeteria snatching waste food off strangers’ trays as they moved down the tray return conveyor to be washed
4.) eye hunger upon seeing the foodie’s perfect plate: clean, geometric, and heeding the proper balance of white space — though only vaguely looking like food
5.) the savage hunger of bared teeth seen in North Korean villagers when the famine got so bad that people’s bodies self-cannibalized the fatty tissue of their lips
6.) dilemma hunger in which one must decide whether to feed the body or some impulse beyond reason
7.) hunger for affection: a drive to feel loved sometimes expressed through the presentation of cookies and cake
8.) hunger for attention: a drive to be noticed sometimes expressed by how many grapes one can fit in one’s mouth
9.) hunger gone automatic is observed when one’s hand puts a candy in one’s mouth before one’s conscious mind is even aware one has done so
10.) hunger for oblivion: when one east the poison, knowing it will kick one into the abyss
11.) hunger for comfort is seen when one craves any familiar food
12.) hunger for the exotic is seen when one craves anything but the familiar
13.) sexual hunger is displayed by one who looms over his food, lustily partaking of it while loosing himself in waves of euphoric pleasure
14.) jealous hunger: when one loves a food so much that one suffers pangs of envy upon seeing someone else order it
15.) over-the-hump hunger is the phase of fasting during which one no longer believes one will “literally, die of hunger,” but during which there remains a vague and persistent hunger of which one can be readily distracted
16.) sensational hunger: when a hunger becomes a mere sensation, devoid of value assignment
17.) stupid hunger is experience when the brain says, “no more thinking until I know that blood glucose is rising”
18.) hulking hunger occurs when low blood sugar sends one into furious rants about inane topics such as wallpaper patterns and the sales tax on a pack of chewing gum
19.) empathetic hunger is experienced when you see someone who looks like he is starving, even though you are fully fed
20.) ice cream hunger typically takes place when one is stuffed, but when one is confident that there are voids and crannies in one’s food pile into which the ice cream can melt, and that, furthermore, the cold, creamy goodness will somehow lubricate one’s digestive track to provide a discernible benefit
21.) mineral deficiency hunger: when you see a salt block out for cows or deer and think, “wonder if it’d be alright if I got up on that?” Eww! But seriously, it’s when you’re jonesing for a bag of chips
22.) calculated hunger: when one isn’t hungry but concludes that one should be hungry based on the when and what of ones most recent meal
23.) travel hunger is when you aren’t hungry but you know a sandwich on your budget airline will give you ptomaine and that by the time you get to the hotel you’ll have shifted into hulking hunger [18] — it’s generally a rationalization for having a brownie from the Costa Coffee
24.) breaking bad hunger is the point at which one is so hungry one will resort to thievery
25.) requited hunger is the rare hunger for foods, such as crocodile, that can be equally hungry for one
There are so many hungers I don’t think I’ve ever known:
thick hungers [26]
thin hungers [27]
wanton hunger [28] (full disclosure: I’ve had wonton hunger [29], which is a hunger for little Chinese dumplings)
wishful hunger [30]
troublesome hunger [31]
burdensome hunger [32]
wild-eyed hunger [33]
intransigent hunger [34]
there are the unnameable [35] and unknowable [36] hungers that I don’t know whether I’ve experienced and can’t have had, respectively
and there’s dead hunger [37] that I’ve definitely not experienced
there are others that I’ve known:
sweet hunger [38]
sweet and sour hunger [39]
umami hunger [40] but not edamame hunger [41]
42.) forgetful hunger occurs when one was too busy — or distracted — to eat
43.) time contraction hunger is a desire to eat lunch not because one needs calories, but rather because one really wants the workday to be at least half over
44.) homicidal hunger: like “breaking bad hunger” [24] this is the point at which one would murder someone for a french fry
45.) first date hunger happens after one eats that salad designed to create a good impression only to find one is still starving
46.) six-second hunger occurs when you are so hungry that you consider the five-second rule null and void and will eat food off the floor no matter how long it takes you to pick it up
47.) pizza hungry is when you are only hungry for one food — pizza — and will opt not to eat if only other foods are available
48.) “Man vs. Food” hungry: this is not what it might seem. It’s when one is so hungry that one could still eat after having watched an episode of this show — a show which usually shines an ugly light on hedonistic culinary impulses
49.) pet food hungry is the level of hunger sufficient to make one willing to eat pet food
50.) physiological hunger: the urge one has to eat in order to supply calories and nutrients to one’s body
