Mre Quotes

Place unopened pouch in warm water for 5-10 minutes. Unopened pouch may be laid on a warm surface. Lay unopened pouch in direct sunlight. Not much chance of that down here. Place unopened pouch inside you shirt, allow you body temperature to warm your MRE. I was surprised they left out: Place unopened pouch on ground and pee on it.

In the Army, the drill sergeants said, "Eat it now and taste it later.

Velike priče su one koje smo čuli i želimo da ih čujemo ponovo. One u koje ulazimo kad nam se prohte. U kojima se na svakom mestu osećamo ugodno. Koje nas ne obmanjuju uzbuđenjima i naglim preokretima na kraju. Koje nas ne iznenađuju nepredviđenim događajima. Poznate poput domova u kojima živimo. Poput mirisa kože naših ljubavnika. Kraj nam je poznat, ali slušamo kao da nije. Kao što znamo da ćemo jednog dana umreti, a živimo kao da nećemo. U Velikim pričama zna se ko živi, ko mre, ko pronalazi ljubav, ko ne. A opet, želimo da saznamo ponovo. U tome je njihova tajna i njihova čarolija.

We sat on the floor, newspaper- wrapped presents in our laps, imagining all the wonderful things inside. We opened them carefully, peeling back layers of newsprint until we reached the boxes, sliced the Scotch tape with our fingernails, lifted the flaps, and each of us found . . . One MRE (Meal, Ready to Eat— turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce, in foil pouches); one Hershey bar; and a handful of bullet casings, because this is what my men are getting today. And one more thing: a scrap of paper with a hand-scrawled I love you, Dad.

A questo punto, a costo di interrompere il filo del discorso, viene spontaneo un contro tra il destino dell’Inghilterra e quello dell’Italia. L’Inghilterra si ritrovò tra le mani ottima lana quando (nel Medioevo) la lana era la materia prima più ricercata; si ritrovò tra le mani ottimo ed abbondante carbone quando (ai tempi della Rivoluzione Industriale) la materia prima più preziosa era il carbone; e si ritrovò tra le mani il petrolio del mre del Nord quando (ai giorni nostri) il petrolio divenne la fonte di energia più usata nell’attività produttiva. In contrasto l’Italia ebbe poca e grama lana nel Medioevo, pochissimo e gramissimo carbone nella Rivoluzione Industriale, e pochissimo e gramissimo petrolio nell’epoca corrente: in compenso ebbe sempre abbondanza di marmo che usò soprattutto per adornare chiese ed erigere monumenti funerari nei cimiteri.

Lakše je mudrovati nego leteti, priznajem", reče Simon s tugom u glasu. "Eto, čak i ti znaš da brbljaš, a da se nisi nikad u svom kukavnom životu otrgao od zemlje ni metar visoko... A sad me pusti da skupim svoju snagu, da saberem svoje misli u jednu žižu, da pomislim svom silinom na užas zemaljskog življenja, na nesavršenstvo sveta, na mirijade života što se razdiru, na zveri što se međusobno kolju, na zmiju koja peči lane što preživa u hladu, na vukove koji razdiru jagnjad, na bogomoljke što ubijaju svoje mužjake, na pčele što umiru posle uboda, na bol majki koje nas rađaju, na slepe mačiće što ih deca bacaju u reku, na užas riba u utrobi ulješure, na užas ulješure kad se nasuče na obalu, na tugu slona koji mre od starosti, na kratkotrajnu radost leptira, na varljivu lepotu cveta, na kratkotraju varku ljubavnog zagrljaja, na užas prolivenog semena, na nemoć ostarelog tigra, na trulež zuba u ustima, na mirijade mrtvog lišća što se taloži u šumama, na strah tek izleglog ptića koje majka istiskuje iz gnezda, na paklene muke gliste koja se prži na suncu kao na živoj vatri, na bol ljubavnog rastanka, na užas gubavaca, na strašnu metamorfozu ženskih sisa, na rane, na bol slepaca...

Today’s meal-ready-to-eat consisted of beef steak, but it came with a special prize, the jalapeño cheese sauce—the most-prized condiment in any MRE. It was the most-often traded item and was treated like pure gold by those who regularly ate MREs.

That’s why I joined, to go over there and bust heads,” Ryan told me when he got back. “When I was actually over there, it wasn’t how I thought it’d be. It wasn’t romantic. Not noble or ideological. You weren’t fighting for your country. It was a group of guys in the mountains trying to kill another group of guys in the mountains. You and a group of guys who are like you, fighting against a group of guys who aren’t like you. In the midst of all this, civilians die because of you. People are killing kids. Are these people a threat to the United States of America? Nah, dude, they don’t even have shoes. “These people don’t know that we want to help them. They see us in their mountains and go, ‘What the fuck?!’ The guys who died didn’t die for America, they died for Afghanistan. Afghanis don’t give a shit about us. They don’t give a shit about their corrupt-ass government. They play both sides of the fence. Guzman got blown up on a mission we weren’t even supposed to go on. I’m sitting there eating an MRE as he’s dying, and I don’t know it. “I’m the crazy guy? I am. I want to get the bad guys. I still do. The older guys who were in real wars, they’d tell us, ‘You’re in the right division, wrong war.’ Nobody gives a shit you’re doing this except the guys next to you—your friends, your brothers. It’s not a war. It’s a gang war.

MRE. “Any you guys wanna take a moonlit stroll?

O most wondrous misshapen biddy of the m'rning, humming at which hour t shouldst cluck! Thou dost not harbour honesty any m're than a hedgehog is a splint'r'd prison f'r fleas.

I’m starving from humping up here. I’m going to cook an MRE.

Tell it to reverse its power conduits and fry itself.” [Informative: That would be illogical and unproductive, much like Federation personnel’s typical behavior. Also, hostile personnel has hidden an MRE utensil in their skinsuit sleeve.]