Spam--Not Just for Email Anymore

My father recently asked me to go with him to Sam's Warehouse. He was going to buy some stuff to put into a box that he was shipping to the Philippines.

He is going over there in February on a medical mission--free clinics for the needy.
The box he is shipping this week, will arrive approximately the same time he will. I guess it's going by boat or someone is carrying it over there. Why is it taking three months?

So we go to Sam's, this warehouse of food in bulk. Everything is bigger over there--the party bags of Doritoes, the toothpaste tubes. I felt like Jack after climbing the beanstalk. Dad immediately heads for the canned goods section. He tells me that he wants to get some food for some of his brothers who are still over there. His first pick? SPAM!

I remember that while I went to medical school there, the local classmates loved Spam. I couldn't understand their fascination with processed ham in a can. I know that growing up, my mother would prepare it for breakfast on occasion--thank God she discovered bacon. It was good, when fried to a crisp, leaving none of the original recognizable meat. Anyway, Dad was piling this stuff into the cart--along with Vienna Sausage and corned beef.

My only thoughts were, "Do you like the people that you are giving this to?". I would never give a gift of spam. Anyway, from what I could count, there were approximately 80 cans of spam and equal amounts of Vienna Sausage and corned beef. After the mutilated meat in a can, he then filled the cart with normal stuff like Skittles, Crunch bars, coffee and Starburst.

I helped him pack this crap into a box and then waited for the shipping guy to come and pick up the box. When he came and asked for the contents, he replied--"Your relatives are going to love this box". WTF?