Whatever Happened to....Airline Food?

Last night I flew from Boise to Portland, Oregon for a business trip. (I'll not name the airline I flew on to protect the not-so-innocent). It's a short trip, about 45 minutes, so there's just about enough time for the flight attendant to throw you your complimentary bag of peanuts and a kiddie-sized cup of the beverage of your choice. I ended up juggling my "food" because I had snagged a primo seat in the very front row with all kind of leg room - but no fold out snack tray. "We've never had those," the flight attendant huffed, after we had inquired where the fold out tray was. 

As I tore open my bag of peanuts with my teeth and dumped all eight of them into the palm of my hand, I found myself longing for the days when airlines actually served real food, although at the time, it certainly didn't seem all that "real." I actually enjoyed airline meals because it made me feel like I was eating play food. Everything came in it's own nice, neat little tray with the little tiny utensils. It just made eating "fun." Now we get a tiny bag of peanuts and call it good. Heaven forbid you should ask for a second bag....