The first time I ever flew on an airline, I was about 20 years old (early 1990s), and my friend counseled me that the best/safest meal could be had by requestin

The first time I ever flew on an airline, I was about 20 years old (early 1990s), and my friend counseled me that the best/safest meal could be had by requesting a Kosher or vegetarian exception. Therefore I dutifully specified Kosher, please, for my in-flight dinner. The food was acceptable, but it got really weird in some of the conversations between me, stewardesses, and seat mates, who all heard about my Kosher preference and they were curious just what sort of Jew I might be. (I was a cradle, lapsed Catholic goth boy at that point.) It gets a bit more interesting; a couple of years hence, I found myself dating a Messianic Jew and attending her "Jews for Jesus" synagogue. When Pesach came around, I dutifully attempted to keep Kosher for the entire period, and discovered that I really had no idea what "Kosher for Passover" entailed, and therefore, I erred on the side of caution by eating nothing but plain matzah all day long. I never tried that again.