Microwave Directions:
Remove frozen burrito from individual packaging and wrap burrito in paper towel. Microwave on high for 1:20 minutes or until cheese is melted.
I stood there with the frozen food item turning it over in my hands. The shell seemed steamed completely shut and impossible to pry open without cracking it.
Huh, I wonder, If the cheese is inside, how would I even know?
Pulling the door of the freezer which wasn't mine open again I paw through the unfamiliar contents before throwing them all in a bag and loading them on my makeshift cart. Then I go for the fridge and start on the pantry shelves.
The sun was warm on my back and on the underside of my feet via the black tar that paves the road from delta to what was alpha.
***
"You guys should get on our meal plan next cycle."
"Nah," Bubbles says, "we have Costco frozen pizzas, we're set."
"That...sucks...to eat all the time."
"Nah," the Hawaiian replies, "We have ramen too, gotta eat your saiman!" He throws his thumb and pinky out and flicks his wrist back and forth in a shaka. I still find it odd to watch them do that, but of late they have adopted doing this to emphasize that whatever it is that I don't understand is just how they like things, that its something the "mainlanders" aren't going to get.
"Nah," Bubbles says, "we have Costco frozen pizzas, we're set."
"That...sucks...to eat all the time."
"Nah," the Hawaiian replies, "We have ramen too, gotta eat your saiman!" He throws his thumb and pinky out and flicks his wrist back and forth in a shaka. I still find it odd to watch them do that, but of late they have adopted doing this to emphasize that whatever it is that I don't understand is just how they like things, that its something the "mainlanders" aren't going to get.
***
"There's no room in my freezer," Supplies lamented.
"There's only five people in Delta... Alpha and Gamma have seven and they seem to be ok.
"Yeah well we have all three Hawaiians and they all just went to costco. They are currently eating the 6th gallon of ice cream and rebagging ice cream sandwiches because only the first 5 gallons will fit in the freezer."
"Oh come on, I'm sure its not that--"
"And the corn dogs and the frozen pizzas and...I'm afraid to open the door because every time I do shit falls out."
"Ah," I said, "well, maybe Beta has a little room for you."
"There's only five people in Delta... Alpha and Gamma have seven and they seem to be ok.
"Yeah well we have all three Hawaiians and they all just went to costco. They are currently eating the 6th gallon of ice cream and rebagging ice cream sandwiches because only the first 5 gallons will fit in the freezer."
"Oh come on, I'm sure its not that--"
"And the corn dogs and the frozen pizzas and...I'm afraid to open the door because every time I do shit falls out."
"Ah," I said, "well, maybe Beta has a little room for you."
***
Even walking out of the airport I felt like I was in a totally different world. Portions of the airport did not even have walls, but the temperature was comfortable enough that I had not noticed this until I noticed a palm branch which had strayed, still on the living tree, into the corridor of the airport.
The McDonalds sold spam with breakfast. They also sold it with lunch, and even disguised as little sushi-like rolls bound up with a scrap of seaweed to a rectangular prism of sticky rice.
My mother had heard me mention that many of the rich girls from school went to Hawaii. I never dreamed to ask to go, but as we walked off the plane my mother said, as if already mid-conversation, "and now you can tell them you have been to Hawaii too."
We stayed in a small hotel in a little town near Hilo. The only comparison I could draw for the hotel was not until many years later when I saw Circus Circus in Las Vegas. Once it was pompus and gaudy by the day's standards, but time had given it a healthy dose of humility. Compared to what else existed you could even call it modest.
I spent my days mostly wandering the local town. Everything was slow and friendly, but I could not quantify it and so, being a geek, I turned to numbers: gas was expensive. Fresh food of all varieties was expensive. The frozen food section of grocery stores was tremendous.
"Everything they have here must be flown in," my mother said.
I remember standing in an isle with my hands on the glass of the freezer door, looking upon the rows on rows of cheerfully labled plastic bags of flash frozen, pre-cooked, make in 10-minutes everything. Really, a person could probably live off what could be found here. Somehow, what I really wanted at that moment was a fresh fruit salad.
I wonder if this is how we will all live in 100 years.
The McDonalds sold spam with breakfast. They also sold it with lunch, and even disguised as little sushi-like rolls bound up with a scrap of seaweed to a rectangular prism of sticky rice.
My mother had heard me mention that many of the rich girls from school went to Hawaii. I never dreamed to ask to go, but as we walked off the plane my mother said, as if already mid-conversation, "and now you can tell them you have been to Hawaii too."
We stayed in a small hotel in a little town near Hilo. The only comparison I could draw for the hotel was not until many years later when I saw Circus Circus in Las Vegas. Once it was pompus and gaudy by the day's standards, but time had given it a healthy dose of humility. Compared to what else existed you could even call it modest.
I spent my days mostly wandering the local town. Everything was slow and friendly, but I could not quantify it and so, being a geek, I turned to numbers: gas was expensive. Fresh food of all varieties was expensive. The frozen food section of grocery stores was tremendous.
"Everything they have here must be flown in," my mother said.
I remember standing in an isle with my hands on the glass of the freezer door, looking upon the rows on rows of cheerfully labled plastic bags of flash frozen, pre-cooked, make in 10-minutes everything. Really, a person could probably live off what could be found here. Somehow, what I really wanted at that moment was a fresh fruit salad.
I wonder if this is how we will all live in 100 years.
***
Two of the Hawaiians were sitting in the kitchen of Delta, obscured by the kitchen table.
"Hey," I said, "Sys's dad brought probably 4 gallons of ice cream to beta."
Kelson held up a spoon in one hand and a tub of ice cream in another, "Nah, we're trying to finish our own before move out."
Probably half an hour later Kelson is sitting with Gadget, Michelle, and Supplies playing Set. He's got a new quart of ice cream in his hands and a spoon.
The oddest part about Kelson and Bubbles is they both are rather thin and fit.
"If I ate that way," Gadget said, "I'd die of diabetes at 500 pounds."
"Hey," I said, "Sys's dad brought probably 4 gallons of ice cream to beta."
Kelson held up a spoon in one hand and a tub of ice cream in another, "Nah, we're trying to finish our own before move out."
Probably half an hour later Kelson is sitting with Gadget, Michelle, and Supplies playing Set. He's got a new quart of ice cream in his hands and a spoon.
The oddest part about Kelson and Bubbles is they both are rather thin and fit.
"If I ate that way," Gadget said, "I'd die of diabetes at 500 pounds."
***
The pile up of abandoned food in Alpha is tremendous. I must have at least 7 jars of salsa in varying degrees of spiciness. Ketchup and mayo follow in close pursuit in popularity. All of these people gave to me when they moved out instead of putting them into the trash can.
Most people managed to finish their fresh fruit and sandwich meats. All that's really left are the things they bought in bulk: cereal and frozen foods. I used up my own fresh supplies some time ago, and buying food when you already have some here for free seems wasteful.
Cereal for breakfast, frozen potstickers for lunch. To change it up I added a pot of rice to the entre of potstickers for dinner.
"Heh," I laughed over AIM to Supplies, "I'm living Hawaiian now!"
"Don't be stupid," he said, "if you were going to do that you'd need to have a flash frozen breakfast too."
Most people managed to finish their fresh fruit and sandwich meats. All that's really left are the things they bought in bulk: cereal and frozen foods. I used up my own fresh supplies some time ago, and buying food when you already have some here for free seems wasteful.
Cereal for breakfast, frozen potstickers for lunch. To change it up I added a pot of rice to the entre of potstickers for dinner.
"Heh," I laughed over AIM to Supplies, "I'm living Hawaiian now!"
"Don't be stupid," he said, "if you were going to do that you'd need to have a flash frozen breakfast too."
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