used to arrange a lot of shipments for you guys. We used to say the essentials were the three C's: Calamine lotion, chocolate, and condoms. Were you in the mid-east?"
"Yeah, we both served a couple tours in Iraq. I've seen all the sand I ever want to see. What do you do now?"
"I'm an industrial production planner. I actually use a lot of the skills I learned in the Navy. How about you guys?"
"Well, you could say we use some of our Marine training, too. We operate heavy equipment for laying pipelines. It pays a whole lot better than the Marines ever paid us and nobody shoots at us or plants bombs in front of the vehicles. And the women are a lot friendlier here."
"I can't complain about the Italian women. They were plenty friendly but sometimes there boyfriends acted a little jealous."
"Did you bring one back with you?"
"No, but I may have fathered a couple half-breed kids. One gal wrote me and sent a picture of a kid she said was mine. I think he looks more like my roommate there. She is just looking for a couple free tickets to the US. I sent her some money to help her out and told her that was all she was going to get. If she wanted more she was going to have to have a DNA test run. I offered to cooperate on that. Then I didn't hear any more from her so I think it was a fraud."
The food arrived. It was as good as Helen had claimed. We both had apple pie for dessert. Uncle Fred left a good tip. As we left Helen called out, "Don't let any of the wildlife eat that sweet nephew of yours. I want him to grow up a little more, then I'll show him what a real boat ride is like." We all laughed but I felt my face heating up again.