We got our hands on an MRE — a "Meal, Ready to Eat" from the Department of Defense. It's a real marvel of engineering. In one flat bag, there's an imitation McRib, clam chowder, a couple of drinks, and some trail mix, and some note about how by eating this you consent to joining the Marines. All in one flat bag!
Special Guest Mike Pesca: This meal disgusts me more before 8 a.m. than most meals disgust me all day.
Miles: I'm going to imitation eat this imitation pork rib.
Ian: Anybody got napkins? I'm looking for a few good napkins.
The MRE really is impressive. It's even got a little heating element you can use to warm up your soup. I got a good sense for how good a soldier I'd make, though, when I lacked the arm strength to open the bag.
Pesca: I'm not saying MREs are old, but this thing was bagged during the Ibrahim al-Jaafari administration.
Ian: It's so cute how they call the next course Operation Dessert Storm.
Pesca: If the Army eats too many of these, it's gonna take a whole new GI Bill to pay for the new GI Bills.
Ian: In about an hour, I'm going to dishonorably discharge this.
[The verdict: Fine — not the meal you're going to pick if you don't have to, but a pretty amazing feat to make all that nutrition portable. I'd put the Department of Defense's McRib up against the Golden Arches any day.]
Sandwich Monday is a satirical feature from the humorists at Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me!
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDAxODg3MTg0MDEyMTg2NTY3OTI5YTI3ZA004))
