“You know, she’ll never come back” Charlie whispered hoarsely above the traffic noise. “The tourists never do… they are like fish swimming down stream, you only get one chance… and you blew it.”
“I don’t know man, the woman in the blue shirt seemed pretty interested in me… I think there was some real connection there.” replied Rolf.
“Are you kidding me? You got your arm around her waist for two minutes, the time to take a picture, and you think that’s enough to get her to abandon her friends and come back? By the way, what did you whisper in her ear? You’re luck her boyfriend didn’t belt you!”
“Look Charlie,” Rolf said, “she will be back today, I know I made a connection. I’ll bet you supper at McDonalds.”
“Forget McDonalds, I can’t stand the smell of the place. I hate that we are running our check point across from it… and I am really tired of American tourists’ joking about us guarding it from the Commies…. But I will take up your bet, but for a good German sausage and a large stein of beer.”
The rest of the afternoon was uneventful for Rolf and Charlie; they had their share of fat American tourists, but also some friendly Dutch and haughty French as well. Their “Tip Box” was filling up pretty well, and a little banter and flirting with the tourists kept the boredom away.
Charlie was still ribbing Rolf about how delicious the free sausage and beer was going to taste, but Rolf was confident; he said, “Look man, she is going to be back, and I know it; so either stop ribbing me or put your money where your mouth is and quintuple your bet!”
“I’ll take that action,” said Charlie, “I could enjoy you buying me supper for five days in a row.”
Just as they were about to pack up their Checkpoint stand, the woman in the blue shirt and her friends re-appeared for another picture.
