Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Merry Christmas: Now Open Your Pie-Hole (Part II)

Part one of this ongoing real-life reportage by Jason Cross is further down on the page. Here's an update:
The snacks have been in a sort of holding pattern since Monday. Today we have a bowl of Hershey's Kisses, two plates of cookies, a plate of fudge, some oddly mishapen ball-like things that are covered in powdered sugar (which I suppose may also be cookies), and a bowl of Chex Mix. The industrial coffee machine has been demoted to hot plate status, as both pots contain hot water. There is a large stack of styrofoam cups, and there are hot chocolate packets and a big jar of tea to be made. The tea is what interests me the most; the ingredients are listed as follows:

Tea, Tang, Cinnamon, Cloves

Tang? I wasn't aware that was still being made . . . last I heard, NASA had bought the entire remaining supply so they could keep their astronauts stocked with it. Perhaps this is some sort of Astronaut Tea, and the drinking of it should be considered a rare treat. Alternatively, the jar of tea may be 23 years old. I may work up the nerve to try a cup . . . I'll keep you posted.

A brief subnote of the ingredient thread: is it legal to list ingredients as finished products, provided that the ingredient isn't the major constituent? I remember once seeing a bag of marshmallows that had the ingredients listed as "Marshmallows," as if they were picked from a bush somewhere. Maybe Tang is the same way . . .somewhere in the world there may be a vast, arid plateau. Every morning the Carryalls lift the Tang Collectors out as the Ornithopters fly overhead, looking for Wormsign. They have to collect the Tang quickly and quietly, because the Worms always come.

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