Chow Time

One of the few reasons people here smile is because of "chow", aka breakfast, lunch and dinner. The dining facilities here are about half the size of a football field. There are concrete barriers guarding all sides of the building and the sidewalks leading up to the main entrance. Follow me inside and I will explain what you would see if you were here.

As I walk up I am greeted by military members in full gear with loaded weapons, they check my identification closely and wave me in. We turn and move down a smaller sidewalk and enter through the doors, we walk immediately in the wash room which is about 15'x15' with sinks, soap dispensers, paper towel holders and trash cans. It is decorated with signs that tell everyone that they must wash their hands prior to entry into the main dining facility. I walk up to the sink, careful not to lean too close because I will get wet from water splashed from previous visitors. I wash up and go to grab a paper towel, but they are not the texture or strength of normal paper towels, they are very thin white paper that is easily comparable to tissue paper. As I dry my hands I notice that the paper is sticking to my hand and is falling apart. Leaning over the trash cans with others, we pick off the extra paper that has decided to take a ride on my hands.

After picking off all the tissue paper, we move into the main dining facility where there is a soldier whose job is to press the clicker in his/her hand indicating that another person has come by to be treated to a period of fine dining. Once past the "clicker" it is time to pick up a tray, followed by a plastic plate (hey Margi, it has three dividers so the food won't touch) and a plastic fork/spoon/knife pack complete with a normal napkin, salt and pepper. As I move toward the serving line, I notice a small display to the right which features special meals from different countries. This special area is self serve, but sometimes has the best food. I move past there and a gentleman with a white paper hat, white starched shirt complete with a bow tie is waiting to take my order. They have about 15 or so of these guys all along the serving line. All of them smiling and all of them saying, "Yes Sir, how can we help you?" in a foreign accent. Always a smile and always a greeting. (You can't get this in some of the best restaurants in the states.) I move to the center of the room where there is a long salad bar with all the salad items you could want, pasta and at the end, they have a taco bar. Past the taco bar is about 5 large glass/self serve beverage refrigerators. They contain sodas, gatorade, juice drinks and about any other beverage you could imagine - except bottled water. This is funny because in every other location on the post, there is free water; everywhere. So why not here? I am not sure, but since they have comment cards on the table, I am going to request it. I have been forced to drink my second favorite beverage - Orange Gatorade. It is tough, but I will try to manage. I move to find a seat in the NFL room. NFL room you ask? Yes, they have a NFL, NBA, and MLB rooms. They are completely decorated in their appropriate sport except for the additional decorations from the foreign governments that are here. Some from England have added Rugby and Cricket to the NFL and MLB rooms.

Once I have found a seat, I notice another area in the back of the dining facility. What? It can't be, Baskin-Robbins ice cream complete with a person to serve you and next to him on display are all the toppings you could imagine for ice cream. I must avoid this area, as it will draw you in like a large magnet. SFC James Smith is here with me and we have brief discussions on how long the other person will be able to hold out. It is a tough battle...

We finally make it to our seats, well within view of the numerous jumbo t.v.'s around the room. We see familiar people as we eat, some we actually know and others that we seem to pass or see sometime during the day. The food here is good and there is plenty of it.

Chow time is a good time as you can forget about what is going outside the complex and can just relax and talk to others going through similar experiences.

There are a lot of good people here trying to do good.