May 13, 2004
#93 :: MEAL Ready-to-Eat / E3 Swag
I can't say what upsets me more - that tens of thousands of U.S. troops tear these open every night, ignite the little chemical food heaters inside and chow down on them for probably the 365th night in a row in many cases; or that the military is giving them away to geeks and swag hounds at the world's largest video game convention to promote a game the U.S. Army developed to teach you how to kill without the risk of actually dying or taking someone's life. The army booth at E3 sprawls across some 2,000 square feet beneath a 2-story Moorish village wall - surrounded by sandbagged bunkers, and staffed by real-life soldiers brandishing next-gen weapons. It was packed. This rather amazing little artifact weighs about three pounds and claims to contain chicken and noodles. I'll just toss it in the camping basket so we can "eat like the grunts" and think of a video game next time we're lounging in camp at Yosemite while my countrymen are dying for an unjust, unwinnable war they never should have been ordered to start. Ashamed to be an American these days, I'm going to feel helpless until November to change the way we're headed.
One of the illicit pleasures of working for a major hotel is having the opportunity to rummage through its dumpster after industry conventions. I've surfaced with cases of CDs (mostly junk but worth stripping for replacement jewel-boxes), software, medical texts and promotional notepads in odd formats (including one that was die-cut in the shape of a human stomach), and a bowl full of liquor bottle-shaped plastic keychains advertising REDRUM -- which, I swear, are going to look fantastic, someday, on a Christmas tree. And I haven't bought a binder in years.
Posted by: Simon at May 20, 2004 04:00 AM