It was the afternoon of Halloween. The slowly setting sun resisted being tucked away for the night of this spooky holiday. The horizon glowed eerily with a medley of vivid autumn hues against the darkening evening sky. The atmosphere was perfect to welcome the enchantment of mysterious things to come.
Eager children dressed as ghoulish goblins, wicked witches, playful ghosts, spooky gremlins, and adorable little princesses were preparing to roam the neighborhood for their treats. I wouldn't let the expected onslaught of kids on their door-to-door hunt catch me off guard. I had some candy, but I knew I had to buy more to be on the safe side.
I still had time to go to the Post Exchange to buy some more candy before the store closed. But first, I had to go to the ATM on the post to get more cash to buy what I wanted.
After arriving on post, I parked and then strolled over to the ATM. As I approached the ATM, I saw a young man of about twenty standing in front of the machine. It tickled me to see him frantically punching some keys on the ATM like he was under pressure to finish typing a column for a newspaper deadline.
He had a short buzz haircut and deeply tanned skin, which indicated that he was an American soldier who had probably just returned from a deployment in the Middle East.
I watched him get upset as he shifted his weight from one leg to the other because the ATM wasn't working fast enough for him. As if his actions would speed up the process, he pounded the front of the ATM with one of his fists as it hummed and beeped to process his transaction. When he took a break from his drama with the machine, he turned around to me and smiled, "So how's your Halloween been so far?"
My first inclination was to not respond to the young man, becauseIdidn'tknow him. So I turned around to see who he was talking to. But, I was tickled when I realized that I was the only one in line and that he was talking to me. So, I politely returned his greeting with, "Oh, quiet, so far."
Somewhat satisfied with my response, he returned his attention back to the ATM to continue his futile fight with it. I was amused watching him as he pushed more buttons and hovered over the ATM, waiting for it to spit out a receipt from its slot. As it did, he grabbed the receipt, scanned it quickly, and whooped, "Yesss, I got paid!"
Grinning, I remembered my early days in the Army when I was overjoyed to receive my first paycheck. After tapping more keys, he turned back to me again, "I gotta catch a train in about 20 minutes. My taxi's waiting for me over there to take me to my girl's place so we can go party."
I laughed and nodded, pleasantly baffled at his uninhibited ease and willingness to share his plans with me.
Then he pointed to his waist and playfully scolded himself, "And look at this! No belt! I left it back at the barracks. I don't usually dress like this, but I was in such a hurry. Don't think I'll have time to go back to get it, though."
Still surprised that this friendly young soldier was willing to share more of his information with me, I acknowledged him with a another smile. I didn't know what else to do.
Then he turned his attention back to the ATM and waited impatiently as it hummed and prepared to dispense his money through the slot. When his cash appeared, he grabbed it as if the ATM would snatch it back. After counting his loot, he took out his wallet and stuffed his money in it. Then he hastily jammed his wallet into his back pocket.
Considering his interaction with the ATM, I wondered what his job was in the military. He appeared unduly impatient and had a lot of pent-up energy.
For some reason, he paused and looked off into the distance briefly before leaving. For a split second, he seemed to be somewhere else. Then, as if coming out of his daydream, he shared another personal tidbit with me, "I just got back from Iraq, but everything here is so haywire." Shrugging his shoulders, he bid me goodbye, "You have a good evening, ma'am."
I responded, "You too, young man, you too."
As he left, I shook my head and wondered, "How could he even say things are haywire here in Germany? He just came from Iraq, a war zone! But thank God he made it back safely.