Some years ago, Son No.1 and I flew from Gorontalo to Manado in North Sulawesi with Bouraq Airlines. We were unable to book a student reduction for him ~ he was 17 at the time ~ because at 9.30am the office manager of Bouraq in Gorontalo wasn't to be awoken from his mid-morning nap.
My, how we chuckled when we read the kind words on the logo'd wrapping of the face wipe which was in our boxed lunch, a cupcake, a boiled egg and a boiled sweet as I recall. How generous we thought, one compliment.
Just one.
I am reminded of this smallmindedness with the news that US Airways will no longer give complimentary peanuts to its passengers, although actually, it's nothing to do with penny-pinching.
The Tempe-based airline, the nation's fifth-largest, is bowing to concerns of travelers with severe peanut allergies. It will serve pretzels, crackers and other in-flight snacks, instead. Several other major airlines had already stopped serving peanuts after peanut allergy groups expressed their members' fears of a dangerous in-flight reaction.
Hang on. Re-read that bit again ... "Tempe-based" or tempeh-based?
Tempeh, made from fermented soya beans, is, as all Indonesians know, possibly the world's most adaptable, tasty and nutricious food, and great for snacks.
Tempeh is very nutritive and contains many health promoting ingredients, including soy phytochemicals. The main phytochemicals in tempeh are isoflavones and saponins. Tempeh is a complete protein food that contains all the essential amino acids. The proteins and isoflavones have many health promoting effects. Isoflavones strengthen bones, helps to ease menopause symptoms, reduce risk of coronary hearth (sic) disease and some cancers. Tempeh maintains all of the fiber of the beans and gains some digestive benefits from the enzymes created during the fermentation process.
It's probably good at preventing airsickness as well and as it's easy to make at home, why not Tempeh from Tempe?
On the other hand, if US Airways are really going the positive discrimination route, then they should offer religion-specific snacks such as these Bible Bars - one of the greatest new products ever introduced to the Christian market. This fantastic-tasting, all natural whole food bar contains the seven foods which the Lord calls good in Deuteronomy 8:8 - Wheat, Barley, Honey, Figs, Olive Oil, Grapes, and Pomegranates. You're going to love this first-of-its-kind nutritional bar with its refreshing, natural fruit flavor and Biblical significance.
