In my last riveting installment, I requested a 3,286-mile grocery delivery from the Yakota Air Base in Japan. That was on May 3rd.
In early June I got word that the Office of the Under Secretary Defense, in a memo dated May 20th, announced a new policy ending the use of the Military Postal Service by the commissaries to ship groceries.
On the one hand, you can see how things could get out of control given the thousands of service members and their families stationed around the world. Unlike those deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, we have easy access to supermarkets. Shopping from Japan allowed families here to substantially reduce their grocery bill but in the end it was a nice gesture by volunteers at the commissary that became too popular.
Still, I had not received my groceries by the time the policy was changed. Some emails from Japan indicated my order was coming while others suggested that the order would need to be cancelled.
Today ten boxes arrived, perhaps the last order out of the store. Images in my head of the last helicopter taking off from Saigon. Okay, perhaps a little too dramatic considering I was waiting on pasta, peanut butter, shortening and ice cream cones.
I take excitement wherever I can find it and for today, this was it.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Did you happen to get any hot dog relish?