"If you want ice-cold camembert with broken crackers, have it!" — Canadian Senator Nancy Ruth (Conservative).
For some airline passengers, this would be the best breakfast in the history of airlines, even if the cheese isn't at the proper temperature. For one, this would be actual food on an airplane at breakfast time.
Sen. Ruth was complaining after auditors said the senator should not have put in a claim for breakfast if she got a breakfast on a morning flight.
"I just don't think they understand anything of what it's like to have to fly around the world to get here to Ottawa."
I do fly to Canada as much as I can, sometimes at breakfast. There has never been camembert in my breakfasts, lunches, and dinners on planes. Porter Airlines always feeds me a good breakfast, but nothing like camembert and crackers.
The Canadian senator is likely flying in 1st Class or Business Class so she gets better opportunities at fancier food. Average people who fly aren't getting those same opportunities. I flew out on Virgin to San Francisco. I was told I could buy food on the plane; I chose to bring my own breakfast on the plane.
Sen. Ruth is based in Toronto but the capital of Ottawa is about 45 minutes by air. So you can see why she would be so upset since the camembert has little time to thaw. On a 4-hour flight, that camembert would be great if you could last until the final hour.
Packing food to eat on an airline requires finding foods that aren't too wet (TSA rules) or messy or smelly. Some people can't stomach non-breakfast food early in the morning; others, such as your humble narrator, can't deal with too much sweet so early. If airlines are serving breakfast, chances are the food is pretty sweet.
Camembert, even ice-cold, with crackers sounds delightful for breakfast. Flavor that isn't sweet: carbohydrates and protein working together. Just enough to tide me over without being too much so early in the morning.
While imagining the ideal airline breakfast is fun, you are going to eat whatever you can scramble to find. There is no shame in realizing that your choices are paying onboard for a airline breakfast or grabbing something from the McDonald's that you can see from your terminal. Packing ahead can fix some of those headaches, but there are moments when that can't happen.
If I brought food and found that the airline was serving camembert with broken crackers, I would gladly keep the other food in my bag and dive into the cheese. This would be a case of "I'll have what she's not having" or "If you aren't going to eat that, I will."
Comments