Hawai'i Interisland Flights Jammed with Flying Doughnuts

Believe me, it's no joke...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=2&u=/nm/20040414/od_nm/odd_doughnuts_dc

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Apparently doughnuts can clog more than just your arteries.

Hawaii residents love Krispy Kreme Doughnuts so much that they often stock up at a new store in Maui before boarding inter-island flights back home, overloading airline luggage bins along the way.

"The locals bring so many boxes of doughnuts on board that we can't always fit them on our flights. Some people will put five or six boxes in an overhead bin," says Mark Dunkerley, president of Hawaiian Airlines....

Doughnut shops are sprinkled liberally across the Hawaiian islands. But the novelty of a major chain, combined with the widespread custom of "omiage," a Japanese word that refers to the custom of bringing gifts home to family and friends, have given rise to the commuter doughnut.

Strange but true. I have actually eaten several commuter doughnuts. I went to a meeting of a statewide family support council a few weeks ago. Sure enough, a council member from Maui showed up with a couple of boxes of Krispy Kremes.

Not to worry, O'ahu will be getting its very own Krispy Kreme(s) within the year -- but why the obsession with mainland donuts anyway? Turns out we have two indigenous styles of donut: The Portuguese malasada (or malassada, depending where you go) is a light, yeasty donut best served hot; it is popular as fair or carnival food, much like funnel cakes or fried dough would be back East. Then there's the andagi, an Okinawan import that is heavier; it travels well and so often turns up by the tray at our ubiquitous potluck picnics ("pa'ina").

Methinks this whole Krispy Kreme kraze is symptomatic of the relentless mainlandization of our islands. Down the street from Krispy Kreme on Maui, Home Depot opened up last year -- and there were lines around the block for it, too. Sheesh. Note, too, that the story was datelined Seattle (!), and that the Japanese word for gift-bringing should be "omiyage".

Should take me 2 weeks or so...

:evilgrin:

Somebody could make some serious cash by chartering flights and loading them up with donuts.