Traveling acquaints us with what’s up and coming, so we were fascinated with the new (well, about a year and a half old) Terminal G in the Minneapolis- St. Paul International Airport (MSP). Filled with booths and tables rather than rows of seating, the waiting areas are outfitted with iPads for travel convenience – already downloaded with today’s edition of USA Today, numerous gaming apps, and reports on everything from weather to airline delays.
We checked one of the screens to make sure we had ample time for breakfast before departing for Spokane.
We seated ourselves on barstools at Twinburger only to be faced with more iPads, this time loaded with menus offering everything from beer to burgers and then some. Ordering from an iPad was a new experience for us, but we took to it rapidly.
Most people were involved with more than one device be it iPad, iPhone, laptop, or something else. And then there were Hoda and Kathie Lee on the big screen! A real techie morning!
If you want to order breakfast, you swoosh the screen side to side to see what’s available. Then tap your choice. It all collects in a “cart” similar to the ones we use with online ordering at Amazon or J. Jill or Eddie Bauer. It even adds a tip — a convenience that may cost you more than you had intended giving, but nevertheless an expedient operation.
And then you swipe your card. Just like that, the whole process is done. Complete. Breakfast is on its way.
With a long layover, we lingered at the bar and watched the chef cook more dishes ordered from iPads: egg white omelets, stuffed French toast, doughnut burgers. You read that correctly: doughnut burgers – a red meat concoction between two slices of a glazed doughnut. Heart attack on a plate, I thought.
I asked the chef if he sold many of these. He smiled at me and said, Yes. Yes, we do. I don’t eat them myself. But a lot of people, I guess, want to try something new.
And so that’s breakfast in Minneapolis. At the airport. Terminal G. We ordered from an iPad, watched a chef prepare a doughnut burger, and then settled in at a booth to read the news from USA Today – on a mobile device. Are we The Jetsons? Close enough.
P. S. Just in case you have this vision of an obese blogger sitting on a barstool pigging out on a doughnut burger, I did NOT order nor did I eat one of those!
Have you ordered a meal on an iPad? (It’s probably an ordinary occurrence for many readers.) Well, if you have, let us know where and when! We’re just now moving into the future!
whichwaynow101
Sounds like a recipe for indigestion, even without the doughnut burger!
Rusha Sams
It could be, I guess. We ordered something simple. Traveling can be hard enough without an added doughnut burger, but I’ll bet the chef is right: a lot of people just want to try something different!
FreeRangeCow
I have not ordered a meal on an iPad, mainly because I own a Dell tablet (Windows 8 OS), but I have an app for Pizza Hut and Dominos and frequently order from them. I am such a nerd because I find the Domino’s “Pizza Tracker” hilarious…from “Angela is reviewing your order…Tony is making your pizza…Don just cut and put your pizza in a box.” A-mused. ;oP
Rusha Sams
Have never heard of a Pizza Tracker — but I would be amused, too! There’s no telling where all this tech will lead us, and I think we may be more than just amused!!