Eat!

August 15th, 2020| Topic: RaMbLeS | 2

I had been scheduled to teach in Brazil in the summer, and in Singapore and Hong Kong in the fall. All canceled, alas! The COVID-19 pandemic has grounded hundreds of thousands of Americans who were set to jet off on international trips during the rest of 2020. They, like me, are rescheduling their travel plans, hoping for the best in 2021.

But a number of these wannabe travelers are taking another step. Unwilling to relinquish their canceled trips entirely, they are—literally!—making sure they get a taste of their globe-trotting.

The Wall Street Journal reported the other day that people across the country are now ordering—get this!—airline food to replicate an essential part of their tours. Airline food! Usually the bane of a tourist’s experience. Bland. Flat. Insipid.

One lady from Michigan was forced to cancel a vacation with her parents to Australia that she’d been planning for the summer. Guess what she did? The enterprising lass ordered several JetBlue snack packs for herself and her parents, including crackers, cheese and dried fruit.

It wasn’t gourmand, nevertheless it wasn’t the worst factor I’ve ever had. I thought it would be really fun to snag a couple and surprise my parents so that one day we could have cocktails, have the snack packs and kind of pretend that we were in Australia. We were all talking about how we missed airports and airplanes. Just bringing some of it into the house made us a little less stir crazy.”

Apparently, 40,000 snack packs, originally intended to be supplied to JetBlue, have been sold by the company, rightly named, Imperfect Foods!

You can also get these from Gate Gourmet, one of the world’s biggest airline catering companies. Microwave and eat!

After all, these suppliers have to exist, too, amidst the tanking of the airline industry. So they’ve opened their doors to those who want the experience such vicarious delights on the ground, rather than at 30,000 feet. You can choose between vegetarian and non-vegetarian.

Said one excited customer:

It’s a fantastic offer—I’ve bought 20 meals for $35 USD. Great to keep in the freezer for a quick lunch or alternative to a takeout dinner. And helps support the tourism industry.”

And another:

We have been all speaking about how we missed airports and airplanes. Simply bringing a few of it into the home made us rather less stir loopy.”

Well, there’s real food available. Free. True food.

Jesus said:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, …
it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven,
and gives life to the world. …
I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger,
and he who believes in Me will never thirst.“
John 6:32–33, 35

And guess what? Eternal life with this true food by believing in Jesus’s death and resurrection for our sins.

“I am the living bread that came down out of heaven;
if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever;
and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.
He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life,
and I will raise him up on the last day.
For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.
He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.“
John 6:51, 54–56

SOURCE:
The Wall Street Journal