A HALLOWEEN NIGHT AT THE ATM

It was in the afternoon on Halloween. As if getting ready for this spooky holiday, the slowly setting sun resisted being tucked away for the night. The horizon glowed eerily with a mixture of vivid autumn hues against the darkening evening sky, setting the mood to welcome the enchantment of things to come: Excited children dressed as petite princesses, spooky gremlins, ghoulish goblins, wicked witches, and playful ghosts.

I thought of the kids and their excitement of dressing up in their favorite scary costumes to roam the neighborhood for treats. Yet, I wasn't prepared with sweet treats for the expected onslaught of kids on their door-to-door hunt. I knew I had to get more candy, so I hopped in my car and drove to the ATM on post to get some money.

After parking, I walked toward the ATM. Standing in front of the machine was a young man of about 20. With his short buzz haircut and deeply tanned skin, I knew he was a US soldier who had probably just returned from a Middle East deployment. I became amused, watching him frantically poking buttons on the machine as if he were under the gun to finish his column for a newspaper deadline.

Shifting his weight from one leg to the other, he unleashed more of his agitation on the ATM for its inability to work faster for him. He pounded one of his fists on the side of the machine as it hummed and beeped to complete his transaction. Taking a break from his ATM drama, he turned around, looked at me, and smiled, "So how's your Halloween been so far?"

My first inclination was to look around me to see who he was talking to. I was tickled when I realized that I was the only one in line and that he was talking to me. I smiled and politely returned his greeting with, "Oh, quiet, so far."

Grinning, he turned back around to continue his fight with the ATM. I grew even more amused watching him while he punched more buttons and hovered like a vulture over the ATM, waiting for it to spit out a receipt from the tiny slot. As it did, he grabbed the receipt, quickly scanned it, and whooped, "Yesss, I got paid!"

Tapping more buttons, he turned towards 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 plight with me. Pointing to his waist, he playfully chided 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 at this friendly young man, I smiled at him again. I was at a loss as to what else to do. Then he turned his attention back to the ATM and waited impatiently as it hummed and prepared to release his money through the slot. When his cash appeared, he snatched it away as if the ATM would take it back. Recounting his loot, he took out his wallet and stuffed his money in it. Then he hastily jammed his wallet into his back pocket.

For some reason, he paused before leaving and shared another personal tidbit with me, "I just got back from Iraq, but everything here is so haywire. Have a good evening, ma'am."

I responded with, "You too, young man, you too."

As he left, I shook my head and wondered to myself, "How was that even possible for it to be haywire here in Germany? He just came from Iraq, a war zone! But thank God he made it back alive."