Circle

Most geometry students learn there are 360 degrees in a circle, 180 degrees in a semicircle and 90 degrees in a quarter of a circle. What I’m about to share with you as to how I did a 360 degree circle in my one sided fantasy relationship with a hat check girl named Adelaide Müller.

In the summer of 1947 I was stationed at Spangdahlem Air Base a United States Air Force installation. It was home to the 52nd Fighter Wing, which is supported by various subordinate groups that specialize in operations, maintenance, logistics, medical and personnel support. I was an Logistics Specialist who used detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general armed services business sense, logistics is the management of the flow of things between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet requirements of the Air Force. The resources managed in logistics include tangible goods such as materials, equipment, and supplies, as well as food and other consumable items. The logistics of physical items usually involves the integration of information flow, materials handling, production, packaging, inventory, transportation, warehousing and often security.

Spangdahlem Air Base is situated in the western region of Germany, the small town of Spangdahlem that is close to Trier, Germany’s oldest city.

I accidently met Adelaide stripping at the Funny Night Club in Hamburg Germany. Okay maybe she wasn’t a stripper but a cocktail waitress. Okay, Okay she was a cigarette girl. You know the kind of girl who would walk around who holstered a tray with a considerable selection of cigars, cigarettes, cigarillos and various other tobacco products and sundries. Sorry for these minor discrepancies of this true love story but sometimes my memory doesn’t always serve me right because it was a long time ago. I wouldn’t have noticed her because I never acquired the ability to smoke. She accidently passed gas while walking past my table. Her face was flush as she tried to apologize for that normal bodily function. The other soldiers sitting at my table couldn’t stop laughing at her until I flipped the little round table over. She ran off truly embarrassed.

About an hour later and after consuming 5 large German steins of 5.4% Weihenstephaner Hefei Weissbier German beer.  A lovely Indonesian cocktail waitress hands me a folded note. I’m pretty inebriated at the time and place the note in my pants pocket.

If it weren’t for corporal Benson loudly rehashing that some pretty Asian cigarette girl accidently farted right in his face at the Funny Night Club that Saturday night to a friend. I wouldn’t have remembered receiving a note. I dashed back to my barracks to get the note. I had turned those trousers in to be cleaned and pressed. I just remembered that I threw up several times on our way back to the base. I ran over to the quarter masters hoping that my uniform wasn’t cleaned yet. I spoke with Sergeant Hope. I asked him did anyone find a note in any of the pants before washing them. He smiled as if he knew what I was looking for. Ten bucks he said and just tell me what color was the folded note. I say I can’t remember. For all I know it could have been written on blue toilet paper. He laughed as he dug into his pocket and showed me the crimpled up note. Ten buck soldier. I handed him the money and took the note. By the way soldier he said. We check all pockets before washing anything. You never know what we’ll find.

I wanted to read the note but it was written in German. Now I needed a translator and from what I heard they don’t come cheap. I found a translator and paid the 25 dollars to read me what was written in German. Danke, dass du so nett bist und mich nicht darüber auslachen kannst, dass du in der Öffentlichkeit gepudert hast. Bitte treffen Sie mich heute Abend im lustigen Nachtclub, liebe Adelaide. Thank you for being so kind and not laughing at me for pooting in public. Please meet me tonight at the Funny Night Club, love Adelaide. That note was given to me 4 days ago and I wouldn’t be able to get a pass until the weekend.

There was a lot of stress going on in Germany due to the Nuremberg trials were a series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1947. The defendants, who included Nazi Party officials and high-ranking military officers along with German industrialists, lawyers and doctors, were indicted on such charges as crimes against peace and crimes against humanity. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler allegedly  committed suicide and was never brought to trial. Although the legal justifications for the trials and their procedural innovations were controversial at the time, the Nuremberg trials are now regarded as a milestone toward the establishment of a permanent international court, and an important precedent for dealing with later instances of genocide and other crimes against humanity.

As fate would have it. I was assigned to guard duty over the weekend. I didn’t trust any of my air force comrades to give Adelaide a note from me, they being known backstabbers, so I would impatiently wait until the following weekend with hopes of seeing her. Again as fate would serve me well throughout my life. I was flown back to Lackland Air Force Base a United States Air Force base located in Bexar County, Texas for reassignment.

I just couldn’t get over not meeting Adelaide. I made a long distance call to corporal Benson. He got flown out to Paris, France that morning. I would not be denied. I found the phone number for the Funny Night Club, but unfortunately no one on the other end of the phone spoke English. I hung up really dejected to say the least.

I was thinking of going AWOL to see her. Then I received a call from my captain to go see the Chaplin. When I got to the chapel I felt a sense of panic. The Chaplin didn’t waste anytime telling me that my father had passed away. He handed me a round trip ticket to fly to Pennsylvania to assist in my families grieving process. After I got to the airport I had a good mind to trade that ticket in and head to Germany. When I got to the ticket agent to trade in my ticket. He informed me that all flights have been canceled due to a mid-morning fire at this airport that started on board aFrench-registered Airplane The SS Charles De Gaulle  (traveling down the runway for takeoff at 160 knots which is 184 mph), the fire  detonated its cargo of approximately 2,200 tons of ammonium nitrate. That started a chain reaction of additional fires and explosions in other airplanes and nearby jet fuel storge facilities. The events killed a total of at least 581 people, including all but one member of the Texas City fire department. The disaster triggered the first-ever class action lawsuit against the United States government, under the enacted Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), on behalf of 8,485 victims.  

I had no choice but to catch a Greyhound Bus to Pittsburgh, PA. I couldn’t help but to think about the French Fräulein Adelaide. After traveling the 1,265 miles in 19 hours and 37 minutes on the Greyhound Bus. There was no one to greet and pick me up when I arrived. I took a cab to my mothers home in the Hill District. There was no one home when I got there. Famlies could now take their children to see airplanes land and take off in 1947. At the Pittsbugh International Airport's Airside Terminal.

I went to the funeral parlor where my father was laid out. Paid my respects and headed back to Texas. Sometimes life throws you curve balls. When life throws you a curve ball, you tend to think ten steps ahead, getting swept away by worry. Gently remind yourself to stay in the present moment and take each step as it comes. Take a mindful breath. Curve balls usually come with stress, and your body responds accordingly. Keeping that thought in mind I had to remind myself of the 5 things I could do to hit that curve ball out of the park. First I must practice gratitude. I should be thankful that I actually met what I believe is the love of my life the Russian born Adelaide. Remind myself that I don’t have to make rash decisions like going AWOL and lose my career. Stop every now and then an take a mindful breath. Reducing my stress at the physiological level. Constantly reminding myself that things could be worse. Like fighting in a war where there will be no winners only losers and I should see this as an opportunity to learn something. Every curve ball presents an opportunity to learn something. Whether it’s about yourself, Adelaide, an issue, or available resources, challenges help us gain knowledge. At some point in the future, I’ll have that knowledge, thanks to that curve ball insight.

About halfway back in flight to Texas I thought about asking the pilot to take me to Germany so that I could finally meet up with the blackjack dealing Adelaide. Then I heard someone shout in polish wszyscy wejdą na podłogę, everyone get on the floor. I’m thinking to myself ain’t that what bank robber say? I believe we were on an airplane. To my jubilant surprise the plane was being Skyjacked and the main airplane kidnapper and his cohorts were asking the cock pit crew to fly them to Germany of all places. The next thing I hear is the pilot saying please fasten your seat belt we’ll be landing in Texas in two minutes. Well that curve ball that was thrown at me was a dream! The next 4 years passed like a blimp on a screen. I had got promoted to field grade officer grades O-5. Now I was finally able to travel back to the beginning of what I truly believed my romantic life should have taken place long ago. After getting set up in my hotel room. I called a cab. I asked the cabby in German zum Funny Night Club an der Kopenicker Str., 70. To take me to the Funny Night Club on Kopenicker Street, 70. He looked at me as if I was asking him what is the definition of supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. A word that you say when you don't know what to say. Finally he said that the Funny Night Club burned to the ground over 4 years ago.