It’s not often that I get a chance to talk with him at the bottle depot where he works, but I’ve known him for about a decade now. A very friendly guy, always smiling, who is originally from Palestine, Bet Lahem (as he spells it). A family man, he and I banter back and forth about families and impending trips. Today, though, I got a chance to speak with him at length.
As I told him, I happily retired from teaching in 2002 and still get royalties from 60 odd textbooks and teacher guides for things I wrote back as long ago as 1980. I identified myself as middle class and that my roots were poor and working class like his. He said today I should write a book about myself. I told him I would include him in it!
Yeah, often the nicest people are working class or relatively poor. Down-to-earth, not hoity-toity, nor putting on airs, and flaunting their egos like so many others who are class-conscious or snobby. I really enjoy Samir, as I do others I have met at 7/11 and other places like that. Real people. Not phony-balonies. Always a pleasure and refreshing.