Ya’ll Come Back, Ya Hear
We, Linda and I, recently had a couple of visitors from Germany.
He, Markus, was an exchange student in our community a few years ago. His experience with our school and our community was apparently a pleasant one because this is his second visit with us, and we didn't teach him nor were we great friends with his sponsors.
A few years ago he showed up at our door to ask for help finding people he remembered from his time in high school here. I think he was on a brief visit to the U.S. to deliver stem cells. Oh, by the way, he has become a doctor.
He complained that he could not find his old classmates or their families where he left them when he was in high school. Apparently he was unaware that Americans move a lot…a lot. We were able to assist him in finding a few folks. He asked if he could stay with us while he was here. Of course, we approved, and I think he spent one night with us, and he was off to return to Germany.
A couple of weeks ago, he emailed Linda to ask if he could stay with us on another visit to the U.S. Although I had an eye operation the day he was to arrive, we approved of his visit.
He showed up the other day and began his search for old friends. He found one local fellow and a couple of folks within a three hour drive. He seemed to have enjoyed his visits.
On his third day with us, he drove to Austin to pick up his girlfriend who had a job based in Germany but located in Los Angeles.
She was young, attractive, and intelligent…thank Gawd.
They spent two nights with us and their only complaint seemed to be that the trains were a little noisy and the bed was a bit small. They drove together to a couple of towns to visit with his friends and we went out to eat together at a local joint once…he paid.
Before they left, they bought Linda a bouquet of flowers, and we gave her one of my calendars and one of my books. She seemed grateful but not impressed…a sure sign of intelligence.
I talked with each about politics. They both seemed a little disappointed that it was my belief that Trump would be reelected. They're young: they'll learn.
We also talked about healthcare. She commented that it was a totally foreign concept to her to have to pay for healthcare. I explained that each person taking care of his own healthcare via Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, or cash seemed to work quite well for us, and retained the incentive for the healthcare providers to work hard and do a good job.
Neither seemed to be offended by my political positions as I was not offended by theirs. After all, they are not Americans.
Of course, when they were departing we said, “Ya'll come back, ya hear,” and we meant it.
enough