Indecent Proposal

The year was 1965.  My mom was 19 and working in Germany.  She was well known as the hot waitress down at the Ziegelhutte.  

Colin Powell was 28 and in between Vietnam tours.  His wife was pregnant with their second child.  

I believe their paths may have crossed.  

A lot of the customers at the Ziegelhutte were military.  They were known as the "safe" spot.  In other words, no Nazis.  Apparently, that was still a thing in Germany in the 60s, though most kept it on the down low.  One day the restaurant had to open back up in between the lunch and dinner rushes.  Some American soldiers were coming through and needed a meal.  Well that's what the Ziegelhutte was in business for.  You couldn't turn away customers.  My Mom had to get up and go take their order.  She was used to a little flirtation.  It comes with the job.  It stood out to her though because she hadn't seen many black men before.  This black man was being treated with respect by his fellow white soldiers, which was especially unusual for that time and place.  

Fast forward to the next night.  The black man was there alone.  She went to take his order.  Instead he passed her a note.  "Can I have you".  She wasn't sure about the meaning.  English was not her first language of course.  She's not even sure of the wording now.  Well she showed it to her brother, who happened to be the restaurant owner.  I imagine his eyes popped out of his head and he wanted to punch this guy.  He had to restrain himself.  That would be bad for business.  After eyeing the man in question, he told Mom firmly, "tell him NO!"  The black man left a little angry, but such is life.  

Fast forward to the next night.  In comes the black man with his pregnant wife.  Now it was my mom's turn to be angry.  Nothing noteworthy happened at that point.  Remember being in business means the customer is always right.  Not only that, but culturally, infidelity in Europe is expected.  Or at least that's what Mom says.  You can be mad all you want.  

Fast forward 25 years!  Colin Powell starts showing up in the news quite a bit.  He's a four star general and Chairman of the Joint Chief's of Staff.  Mom's jaw drops.  That's the guy!  That's the married bastard who propositioned me when I was a kid.  We roll our eyes, but hey, the dates work out.  

The year was 1996.  Colin Powell announces he will NOT be running for political office, neither president nor even vice president.  At the time I thought, sure that would be tough, being scrutinized so thoroughly.  Now I wonder what might have been uncovered?  Perhaps a long, sordid history of philandering inline with the actions of a that mystery black man from 1965 Germany?