More part 3
Winter 2011
“Your accent is not from the west coast, no?” he asked as he stirred some sort of sauce.
“No. I’m from Arkansas.”
“Ah.. a southern beauty.” He smiled.
“Thank you.” Then I noticed a magazine on the bar and I said “Is this your name?” holding it up, pointing to the name “Bruskiasban W. Albrecht”
He laughed. “Yes, but its pronounced Bruce-Bain. The ‘kias’ are silent letters.”
“That’s a waste of a lot of letter’s."
He laughed. “Yes, and there are so few out there.” he said. I felt a wave of embarrassment for saying something so stupid."
“So what does Bruskiasban mean?”
“Warrior for peace and Albrecht means noble. And your name means ’blessed beauty.”
“So you’re a Noble Warrior for Peace.” I said trying to pay him a compliment.
“I am, what I am.” He said.
I laughed. “So, you’re Popeye?” He turned and looked at me with a strange expression. “Who?”
“You know, Popeye the sailor man? Its a cartoon? He always say’s I am what I am”? I blushed, when I realized nostalgic American cartoons are lost on a German and immediately changed the subject. I wanted to know everything about him. “I want to know about you. Tell me what brought you from Germany to the United States.”