The Automatic Pizza Vending Machine In The Detroit Airport: The Kotaku Review

Last week, I finally traveled to New York City to visit the Kotaku office, hang out with the people who work there, and even meet up with some former staff. It was a great time! Had a blast visiting the city, and getting there was a breeze. However, getting home was a mess and involved me crashing in the Detroit Metro Airport for seven hours before heading home to Kansas City. But it wasn’t all bad news. While in the airport, I found a strange vending machine that dispenses hot personal pizza pies. My wife and I landed in Detroit around midnight. After verifying our new tickets to Kansas City with the staff, we picked out a spot near our terminal and killed time until our flight. Once we had set up a home base in the corner of the seating area, not far from a bathroom, charging station, and water fountain, I decided to explore. I quickly stumbled upon a 24/7 area of the airport-mostly deserted at 1 a.m.-that was filled with different vending machines. It was the Pizza Cat machine that caught my eye. I was hungry. And I didn’t want to eat more chips and jerky. I wanted something hot and tasty. So a big vending machine promising hot pizzas in five minutes made me excited. I wasn’t alone either. Before I could get to the machine, an older man with a large roller suitcase walked up to the Pizza Cat and began ordering a pizza. He then stepped back and watched. I did too. The machine hides what it does, but I was able to hear what sounded like a small motor and fan kick on. About five minutes later, a cardboard box containing the man’s cheese pizza popped out of a slot. He turned around, looked at me, and then sort of shrugged as if to say, “Huh, this is weird.” I replied, “Weird, but hey, it’s pizza!” I must have startled him because he let go of his luggage, which fell to the floor with a loud thud, and in the process nearly dropped his newly acquired pizza. After I helped him get situated, he scurried off to eat his food. Meanwhile, I repeated the process he’d just finished and used the large touchscreen to order a pepperoni pizza. Five minutes later, it popped out in a box. As I was grabbing it, another person, a younger man, slipped in behind me to toss away his pizza box. “Pretty good, actually!” he shared with me before leaving. I wasn’t so sure. Sitting back down with my wife in the corner of the airport we’d picked out, I opened the box and found a small, very thin, and slightly greasy little pizza. It had a crispy crust and looked okay. But when I picked up a slice, it felt very soft and rubbery. Thankfully, it wasn’t chewy, but the bland dough and tiny amount of sauce were disappointing. The cheese was fine and the pepperoni...

Preview: ~500 words