Even when I was twelve years old and watching this rather funny and memorable episode as it debuted, I questioned certain points.
If Henry knew the area near Adam's Ribs well enough to remember the train station's phone number off the top of his head, why didn't he know anyone nearby to pick up and mail the ribs? Henry's apparent lack of willingness to contribute to the cause should have surely banished him from the king's table. If Hawkeye was going to pick a half dozen people, of everyone in the unit, to share his ribs with, Henry shouldn't have been one of them.
If Klinger refused to help them without a price tag, he too shouldn't have been one of the chosen few who got to indulge. This began a trend that would become a flawed plot point, at least for me, and that got worse as the seasons progressed. Of roughly fifty people at the Mash unit, only four were doctors and only the core characters usually got to speak and participate in the story lines. There were at least six or seven doctors in the film, in the book and on very early episodes. Getting back to this one, why didn't Hawkeye share his feast with nurses or other hospital workers before he shared it with Henry and Klinger, who blatantly refused to help secure the ribs?
Why couldn't Hawkeye grab a few of the cooked ribs and eat them on the go, as he was pulled away and rushed to the operating room? And finally, why couldn't Trapper ask his Chicago three night stand to pick up cole slaw when she retrieved the ribs? These were educated, sharp and resourceful doctors. Someone could have figured that out that the woman could have said to the cashier "would you throw a few pounds of cole slaw with that?"
None of these are deal killers, of course, and they're all in the realm of possibility. They're just not probable. Still, for almost fifty years, every time I've eaten really good ribs and cole slaw, I've thought of this episode.