The Best Breakfast Ever (standard:travel stories, 794 words)
Author: Roman Buettner	Added: Oct 15 2001	Views/Reads: 10974/3	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A TRUE STORY!!! A group of German students visits England and loses all the money they have. Desperately seeking for a way of getting something to eat they have an experience that will change their lives.

The Best Breakfast Ever
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Written by Roman Büttner 

The following story is based upon a real tale although the names of the
characters have been changed. The story is set in Great Britain in the 
year 1968, a troubled time of student movements and sudden political 
change. 

There they stood, in front of a small English pub with no money to spend
and an incredible hunger to still. The five German students had been to 
England for a week now. It was just another piece of showing 
independence of their family, a piece of living their own lives as 
students. Unfortunately they had run out of money. Not one of them had 
cared about their funds when celebrating on those various concerts they 
had seen during their vacation. Later, they had to realize that they 
presumably would not have enough money to pay for a room and meal, to 
say nothing of the fact that they also needed money for a ticket back 
home. 

Standing in front of this little pub they all felt a deep stomach-ache
that let them have need for a fast decision. "Who's gonna go inside?", 
Peter asked. No-one answered him, they just all looked at him with 
those doggy eyes that symbolize you that you are the one to do it. "Oh, 
no, don't look at me that way. It was not my fault that we have not a 
Pound left to pay for things", he replied to their facial expressions. 
"Okay, I'm gonna do it", Jenny said. "You guys are such weaklings!". 
She was the only girl among this group of students. She looked at her 
companions and derived feelings of relief from their faces. Although 
feeling quite nervous about her job, she stepped inside the pub. It was 
dark and smoky but she quickly plucked up all her courage and walked 
towards the counter. 

The barkeeper was just about to dry beer-mugs with a towel. When he saw
Jenny behind the counter he came over to take her order. All she did 
was opening her purse and emptying it on the bar. Some coins and 
buttons rolled around the wooden surface. The barkeeper looked 
confused. "This is all I have. I'm hungry", Jenny said. She was glad 
that those words had come over her lips so easily even if they sounded 
quite stupid and primitive. Now it came to the point of decision: How 
would he react? Jenny was visibly excited. The tall guy on the other 
side of the counter sceptically eyed the girl. "Are you Swedish?", he 
suddenly asked. Amazed at this question, Jenny replied "No, I'm from 
Germany". The man said nothing for a while, turned away from Jenny as 
if he was thinking of what to do. The girl focused him and prepared 
herself for escape in case he called the police. 

"You know what", the barkeeper said, "I once was a soldier in World War
II". Jenny was wondering how this could be related to her situation but 
she silently listened. "They used me as a paratrooper and that one time 
I was gliding down with my parachute, the Germans shot me down. I was 
severely injured and tried to run away from the German troops. I came 
to a small German farm and the owners offered me shelter. They nursed 
me, gave me food and as time went on, we grew closer and I felt like 
having found a new family. They showed me that not every German stood 
behind the Nazi-regime. What they did to me was the best thing in my 
life". Jenny had listened carefully to the barkeeper's words and she 
was deeply impressed by this experience he had made. He went on: "I 
have never been able to give back some of the kindness you Germans have 
given to me. Please be my guest, little lady, and feel free to take 
advantage of my hospitality. Jenny was incredibly excited, not able to 
believe what she had just heard. Was he just joking? No, he looked 
quite serious. "But...there are some friends of mine waiting outside 
your pub that are also just about to starve", Jenny said. "They are 
welcome, too, of course! Come on, go and get them!", the barkeeper 
advised her. "I'll be very glad to meet them". 

Happily Jenny ran out and drew her friends inside, who couldn't believe
the story that she was now telling them in German. The five students 
sat down and quickly the barkeeper served the best breakfast they had 
had for a long time: Tea, coffee, juice, pastries and rolls – just 
anything one can think of and that the barkeeper had in storage. The 
five students filled their empty tummies and at last were proud to be 
Germans. 


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