It was 1944. World War II was going fast and furious and I was in the US Navy as an Aviation Cadet learning to fly airplanes. I had completed one phase of my training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was granted a leave. Trains were always crowded and that meant I stood up all night on a train from Durham, North Carolina to New York City, en route to my home in Massachusetts.

At home my father happened to have a close friend associated with the railroad. That friendship resulted in my having a reserved seat on The Silver Meteor for my return trip. The Silver Meteor was the deluxe streamliner train, complete with a club car, which ran between New York and Miami.

I boarded the train in New York and slid into a comfortable window seat that was reserved in my name. The train pulled out and I was feeling as though I certainly was something special. Here I was, 22 years old, in top physical condition, wearing the dress blue naval officer’s uniform replete with various gold stripes and stars and I was on the Silver Meteor going towards Miami. What more could a guy ask for? I soon found out.

The aisle seat was unoccupied until the train made its first stop. Then a very attractive blond lady around my age boarded the train and quite nicely filled the seat next to me. Now, what more could a guy ask for?

We chatted amiably for some time and I finally asked if she would like to go back to the club car for a drink. She thought that would be nice.
As we entered the club carI should have suspected something was wrong because it was empty except for the bartender.
He said, “I’m sorry sir, we are closed. We’re in North Carolina now and it’s a dry state. They don’t allow any liquor.”
“Could we please have a coke?”
“I’m sorry sir, the car is closed. We can’t serve you anything until we are out of North Carolina.”
By that time I would be out of the train so that was no help.

The VABL (Very Attractive Blond Lady) and I sat at a table facing each other. Soon a solider came through the car. He was a bit disheveled. His hair was rumpled, his tie was askew and his khaki uniform was devoid of stripes and didn’t even have any gold on it. It seemed to me he had been drinking and no doubt overdoing it. He approached our table carrying a stack of the paper cones.

(These small paper cones were once used on trains as drinking cups.)

Staggering just a bit he approached me and said, “You wanna cup?”
I said, “No.” in a tone that could easily be translated to “Go away and leave us nice people alone”
Slurring his speech slightly, he said, “Wadda ‘bout you lady? You wanna cup?”
She smiled and said, “Thank you very much.”
The boorish soldier walked unsteadily to the next car.
I laughed and asked, “I'm curious as to why you took a cup when there’s nothing to drink.”
Her reply was, “My mother taught me to take anything that’s free.”
We both laughed.

Soon Drunken Soldier staggered back into the club car. This time he was carrying the biggest bottle of bourbon I have ever seen. Everyone who had a paper cone now had a paper cone full of bourbon. As he filled VABL’s cup I meekly said, “Uh, Sir, is it possible you might have another one of those cups you could spare? If so, could I please have one, sir?”

That wonderful man, a gallant war hero I’m sure, handed me a cup and filled it.

That little adventure taught me two very valuable lessons and I’ve not forgotten them to this day. One is, “Take anything that’s free.” The other is, “Always be nice to people no matter what their station in life or appearance. You never know when that person may hold the key, or cup, to your next drink.”

Addendum: I never did stay in touch with VABL and when I left the train I didn’t even get her name and address. I should have. It would have been free.