@ai6yr

OMFG. you'd have to *pay* me to take an MRE...

we used to call them "3 lies in one acronym". they're not a meal, they're not ready, and they're most definitely not edible.

@ai6yr … why would you try to steal MREs? From what I’ve heard, they’re basically meals of last resort.

Edit: I've never had an MRE, this is how a friend described them ~15 years ago.

@younata @ai6yr they’re popular with preppers and the Meal Team 6 military cosplayer types. Shelf stable, decent nutrition, tolerable taste… everything you need when playing dress up fantasy war in the desert with your friends. They see the real military do it, so they want to do it too.

Just like my 5-year-old INSISTED on having a capo for their guitar, which they can’t actually play, because the guy at their preschool who leads sing-alongs has one. You want your pretend play to be as close to the real thing as you can get.

Steal them for $0, sell them for $5 each, that’s a pretty decent profit if you don’t get caught. Obviously this guy didn’t think about the getting caught part.

@younata @ai6yr I hated MREs (though the pound cake was delicious compared to everything else). They were required for all meals when doing Air Force base war exercises. That was in the early 2000s but I bet it’s still the case. I wish they had been a last resort.

@rpmik @younata @ai6yr I liked MREs bit we're talking late 80s, early 90s. We had things like a real ham slice and chicken ala king and basic items. Not these crazy things they have now.

@rpmik is right though- that fruit cake was good. I remember it having more the flavor of an orange/cranberry bread. I did like the dehydrated fruit mix and cheese spread as well.

A local grocer sells them and once a year I go grab one much to my wife's protests. Maybe I'm just odd.