Nuremberg Tour 33

"Right," Farzana says, "duty sked. Now take 24 hours, divides into neat 3 hour stint each. Now SOP is that the notch from midnight to 3:00 am and 3:00 am to 6:00 am are given to M/Cpl and L/Cpl. I'll do the first, Rachel takes three to six. Reason, no there ain't likely to be an invasion, think lotto odds on that. But any trouble, say smugglers or illegal immigrants across the line, more likely to show on those shifts. Resta you talk it out. Remember, it ain't carved in stone. I'll happily accept any swap, permanent or temporary, as long as both agree."
It doesn't prove hard for them to parcel it out, according to who prefers what hours.
"Now," Farzana continues, "far as beer, you know the story. Every store and bar east of Nuremberg itself is on our ration program. It's that or the German liquor authority harrasses them. So, forget about hitching rides to the next town. Won't work. Leave, there ain't none, not for the one year deployment. But there is a way to get away for five days to Nuremberg, to drink or get laid. See, Lt can authorize one absence of five days for each of you. But the time, you hafta pay back to whoever worked for you. Now, if boyfriend is willing to spring for airfare, he can come to Nuremberg. You get the pass. Anything over five days or over one absence, gotta be authorized by the CO. Meaning forget it. So, there being no civvy bus service, works like this. Early Monday morning, school buses pick up the few high school kids, haul them to Nuremberg for the week. Friday afternoon, bring them back. You ain't allowed to give them money, but it is considered polite to give two packs of cigs for going and two for coming back. Now, ain't much, but better than nothing."
I look around, see the looks. No one argues. Looks like all agree that something is better than nothing. Process of adjustment I guess.