Cheeeeeeeeeeeese Borger

For my birthday, I was given a beer stein by my sister.  But not just any old beer stein, this one was actually very special!  It is from an Oktoberfest held at the Laon NCO Club on Laon Air Force Base.

If you read through my really early posting on this site, you know that we were interned at Laon for a few years during the Cold War.  Laon was a NATO base with American’s, Canadians, Brit’s and a few of us Germans running around.

Once I was 10, I was allowed into the NCO club.  I was so excited!  It was just a like a Denny’s/VIPs/Shari’s with a bar in the back.  But it was still exciting to me.  My favorite meal there was a cheese burger with a chocolate shake.  When I was 12, they then would let me have tea!  Oh boy big time!

As I held the mug in my hand, a rush of memories came back, mostly revolving around cheese burgers and tea!  I laughed to think about the waitress – worse accent anyone could ever have!  We rarely could understand one another.  And she always kept her hair in the wildest arrangements!

“I would like a cheese burger with a cup of tea, please.”

“Cheeeeeeeeeeeese borger.  You want man-yan-aise on Cheeeeeeeeeeeese borger?”

“Huh?”

“Man-yan-aise, you want man-yan-aise?”

“Mayonnaise?  Oh sure.”

“Why growing boy need tea?  You need milkshake.  Tea for sick old people!”

“No really tea will be fine.”

Grunt, stomp off.

This was played out at least once a week for years.  It was worth the $.85 once a week just in entertainment value.

So, I hopped on the internet to see if there was a way to know which Oktoberfest this mug came from.  And surprise, surprise, what do I see?  The waitress at a reunion!  She married one of the airmen and now lives in Texas!

Oh, and yes, she still has the wildest hairdo I have ever seen!