Army Entertainment

I was sitting on the tram at Westbahnhof waiting for it to leave, when I looked at the departure time screen and realized I would be sitting there for 20 minutes unless I wanted to walk ... some sort of delay or other.

Bored with Sudoku on my cell phone, I looked out the window. Standing outside the Tabak, dressed in U.S. Army garb and smoking a cigarette was a man moonwalking.

This didn’t last long. A woman clad in lots of pink walked past and Mr. Army Man followed her, imitating her movements and swaying his hips back and forth, all the while singing out loud while continuing to smoke.

He soon lost interest and began running in place, lifting his knees as high as he possibly could. I was so entertained that I started to laugh out loud, drawing strange looks from the other tram passengers.

In those 20 minutes I could have easily walked home, I realized. I looked up at the departure times: the delay had now been extended so I gave up the free entertainment and got off the tram.

I smiled at the man and gave him a thumbs-up. He returned the gesture, and went right on singing Michael Jackson.

- Gretchen Gatzke