I can’t recall ever being accused of personal responsibility for America’s wars, and certainly not by a total stranger. However, as the saying goes, there is always a first time. So after my train ride to Berlin yesterday I have a story to tell.

I was on my way to Berlin for a Bible study there with a small group of believers. Accompanying me were Jerry and Mary Ann Aust from Mobile, Alabama. Jerry is a senior writer for the "Good News" magazine, and this is his first visit to Berlin. Our trip on an ICE train took us from the main station in Bonn to the Berlin-Spandau station.

The seating on the train is four seats across, two each on either side of a middle aisle. The Austs sat on one side, and I sat on the other. From Bonn to Hannover a young lady sat next to me, and she changed seats in Hannover because her seat was reserved from Hannover to Berlin.

There is occasionally a bit of jostling and confusion on an ICE train on a major route – especially on the weekend – as passengers leave and new ones get on the train at stops along the way. At the Hannover station I looked up to see a fellow about my age maneuvering in the aisle toward the seat next to me. He was obviously German, and I asked him if the empty seat was his reserved seat. When he answered in the affirmative, I quickly got up to enable him to take his window seat. Before taking his seat, he stored his suitcase in the overhead luggage rack and then tossed a notebook with the label "Politics" on his seat. He took his seat, and I continued translating on my notebook computer.

A couple of minutes later I chatted briefly with Jerry Aust across the aisle. Immediately the fellow on my right asked me in English with a heavy German accent: "Are you American?" When I told him that I was, he stated quite emphatically (in his English): "Please let me out. I do not want to sit next to an American. I think you know why."

I replied in German by saying that I did not have the foggiest notion. To which he replied: "Because of your wars!" He then took a seat across the aisle directly in front of Jerry and missed out on an opportunity to discuss his viewpoint – in his own language – with an American.

However, he did cause me to wonder what wars I had caused. Sure, I have my disagreements with my wife Monica, as any married couple does, but I would not call them "wars". 🙂

Anyway, I am sure that my former Green or leftist seatmate was referring to Iraq or some other war that I had nothing to do with. Oddly enough, the two fellows who drew his ire – Jerry and I – were both conscientious objectors.

Now, less anyone misunderstand, I have not experienced this kind of reaction in the 11 years since we moved back to Germany in 1994. So this fellow is certainly not typical of Germans in general. To be fair, there are people like him in the UK and the USA who react to Germans the same way he reacted to me.

Part of my life as an expat in Europe. Maybe I should try to find the guy and put him in touch with my dentist.