A United Airlines first class passenger posted the photo above of his sumptuous repast on a United flight, saying,

“Hey United, is this a joke? I just flew 5+ hours in First Class and this bowl of sadness is what you serve me for dinner. Between the 3D-printed mystery meat, the cafeteria cheese cubes, and the whole tomato I need a chainsaw to cut, this is genuinely unbelievable.”

No, it’s not unbelievable. I’m old enough that I remember when coach class seating included something approaching real meals on long flights, but those days are long gone. United always was near the bottom of the barrel as far as customer service went, but now that the airlines realize that nothing else matters to flyers as much as the ticket price and the schedule, none of them even try to make flights pleasant any more, because there is nothing in it for them.

Sure, it would be ethical for an airline to decide that it was going to make flying less of a miserable ordeal, but these companies literally don’t care about your comfort. And what’s your alternative? A train? A blimp? Flap your arms real hard?

They don’t have to care, so they don’t. And thus passengers end up with “bowls of sadness.”