Key Lime Pie

There’s food. Outside my window, nothing but darkness.
The man next to me is asleep – or doing a very bad job of faking it.

I’m eating the dessert of my three-course meal, served on a 42cm×24cm tray.

I lift the lid. Key Lime Pie.

Beneath it, the ingredients in tiny print: Graham Crackers (Graham Flour, Sugar, Canola Oil, Corn Syrup, Honey, Baking Soda, Salt, Soy Lecithin), Condensed Milk, Lime Juice, Heavy Cream …

I tilt the lid 45 degrees. Salt.

All what every healthy dessert needs.

With my white plastic spoon, I stab into the cream. It’s so green that surgeons could use it to camouflage themselves in the OR.
The Key Lime Pie – which, by my definition, isn’t a pie at all but a misunderstood cream dessert – tastes fantastic. Delicious, I think. But the color haunts me.

I look back at the lid. Squinting, I read: Salt. Heavy Cream …

I rotate the lid minus 55 degrees. Lime Juice, Condensed Milk, (Soy Lecithin, Salt, Baking Soda, Honey, Corn Syrup, Canola Oil, Sugar, Graham Flour) Graham Crackers.

No dye. No E-numbers. No technical terms that would force me to consult Wikipedia or ChatGPT.

And yet: this color is way too unnatural.
Well, I am flying out of the US. They probably don’t have to list everything on the packaging here. I take the next spoonful of this glorious, neon-bright substance. But honestly – who cares? It tastes good.

I’m sitting in a highly accelerated metal tube, 10.668 meters above the ground, traveling at 980 km/h. Literally flying halfway around the world – and I get served a hot three-course meal.

How awesome is that? And here I am worrying about additives.
I scrape the last remnants of my probably diabetes-inducing sugar mass out of the little bowl and smile.

I love humanity.