5 May - Saturday

Today was an interesting day - "no soup for you" comes to mind. We had some issues with our life support contractor today. Quick synopsis - their was not enough chicken in the rice dish, the bottled water was hot because it went from the back of the truck - which was on the road for 4 hours - to the serving table, the salad was missing and the bread had not yet made it to the serving line. Needless to say the soldiers were less then thrilled and refused the food. One loud mouth soldier was all that was needed to get the rest of the near-by soldiers up in arms. Within minutes all the hired help ran from the building leaving the food and water unprotected. When I arrived 20 minutes after the "there is a problem at the mess hall" call there were no employees in sight and the place was still standing. But outside I could see the chanting and arm pumping of some pretty excited soldiers. The officers from one group got together and began putting together "take-away" meals for their troops while the senior officers from the other unit hid in their rooms - yes they were hiding. After things calmed down a Iraqi Major from the "chanting" group asked what we could do to get his soldiers fed. Oh- NOW you are hungry - well guess what the other group ate all your food - oh sooo sorry. But we have snacks, cold bread and hot water...will that do. Alright...then get in a line. By 3 PM the last of them were scurrying back to their rooms with bread and water in hand. Dinner went-off without any problem - probably because we had Coalition personnel in the area to squash any problem before it escalated into a riot. That was enough excitement for one day. I hope you day was less eventful. Have a good night.