"Three meals a day, for which you didn't pay..."

My favorite holiday movie has always been Irving Berlin's White Christmas. There is a musical number at the end of the movie titled, "Gee, I Wish I Was Back In The Army." It is a cute little number (as you can see below) that talks about all the GREAT things the Army has to offer. I very often find myself singing the line, "... three meals a day for which you didn't pay ...," as I stand in line for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. People are always talking about our three square a day, and how great it is. I wish that was the case here.

When we first arrived I didn't think the meals were too bad. But after a week or two you could see a pattern developing. On the hot foods line every day they serve mac and cheese, instant mashed potatoes with gravy, corn bread, corn dogs, grilled cheese, some kind of spaghetti and broccoli mixture, corn (on the cob or off, creamed, or in succotash), and occasionally some other overcooked mushy vegetable. Some of you may be thinking that it doesn't sound so bad, but you are wrong :) . The mac and cheese is neon yellow, and tastes nothing like cheese, the grilled cheese is greasy and soggy, and there is a limit to the amount of instant potatoes a person can stomach. At least they never run out of brown lettuce or frozen tomatoes on the salad bar. As for the protein portion of the meal I cannot tell you how many times I have said, "What is That?"

The soldiers here, myself included, consider themselves lucky when they get to have chicken cordon bleu, a burger, chicken patties, and on rare occasions even lasagna. I have only seen the lasagna twice in these two months. Most of us are getting pretty good at recognizing the items on the food line, but occasionally there are a couple of items that stump us all. Each meal is like a guessing game, and always a gamble in the end (if you know what I'm saying). Some of the soldiers deserve awards for the items they eat. Most of us wouldn't even eat it if we were contestants on Fear Factor. It has become amusing to watch the confused faces of the soldiers that are before me in line. It is even better when they cannot hide their looks of disgust.

At least once, sometimes twice, a week I have peanut butter and jelly for lunch or dinner.