TenMan
Trusted Member
I'm Not Lebanese!! - How Should I Handle This?
I've been buying my gas at a station that is obviously owned by people of Arabic descent. You get it a little cheaper if you pay cash, which requires you to go into the station. Seems like every time I go in there to pay, the same guy is always working the till. As the months have gone by, I've got to know him....his name is "Sam" probably short for Samir or somethinig else. He is very Arabic looking with a deep accent, but speaks perfect English. About a week ago, I went in there to pay him for gas, but forgot my money (cash)at home, so I had to pay by Credit Card (at about a dime higher per gallon). This Sam-guy looks at my CC real close and says, "You have a Lebanese name, but you don't look Lebanese." I tell him that my last name is German and I'm a first generation German - American. He started speaking Arabic to another Arabic guy behind the counter....they talk back-and-forth for a minute, then Sam looks at me and tells me that i should be ashamed to lie about my Lebanese heritage!!
I explain to this guy that I'm not Lebanese, I'm German. He says, 'You do not have dark skin like a Lebanese, but your nose and face have Lebanese features. I tell him, "Oh yeah? What about my red hair and beard?" He says, "You die it to disguise yourself." I was like WTF!!?? I stopped talking to him while he completed the transaction, and I just turned and started walking out. All the sudden, he says real loud, "Hey! You forgot this!" So I walk back and he hands me a "flyer" all written in Arabic. I grabbed it, left the store, threw the flyer away in the garbage, pumped my gas and left.
Today, i went back there to buy gas and this sam guy is at the till (as usual). He starts asking me what I thought about what was written on the paper he gave me about a week ago. I tell him that I cannot read any langauge but English, so I just threw it away. The guy gets pissed and says, "You can deny being Lebenese, but we know what you are." He goes on to say that if I had read the paper he gave me, my attitude about America would be different. What attutude about America????!!! I never ever spoke to this guy about anything but the shitty Michigan weather!!
So this gets me thinking: I wish I would have saved that flyer he gave me, but I didn't. I should have asked him for another one today, but I was mind-numbed by this guy and my mind was bouncing all over the place.
Do you think I should go back there and ask him for another one of these flyers? I cannot read whatever langauge it was written in, but I do work with a guy from Lebanon who might be able to give me the jist of it.
I don't know, but it seems like this guy has a real hard-on for America and is very pro Arabic or something....like militant. I'm tempted to falsely get in this guys good-graces to find out what his deal is. On the other hand, I really don't want to get involved in any weird shit...maybe I should just go to the police station and report what is going on? That doesn't seem right cause the guy really hasn't done or said anything illeagel that would warrant me going to the cops (the less I have to do with the cops, the better!).
Do you think i should "feel this guy out" and play along to see if he is a trouble maker or something?
Man, i stumble into weird shit!!!!
Thanks, TenMan
I've been buying my gas at a station that is obviously owned by people of Arabic descent. You get it a little cheaper if you pay cash, which requires you to go into the station. Seems like every time I go in there to pay, the same guy is always working the till. As the months have gone by, I've got to know him....his name is "Sam" probably short for Samir or somethinig else. He is very Arabic looking with a deep accent, but speaks perfect English. About a week ago, I went in there to pay him for gas, but forgot my money (cash)at home, so I had to pay by Credit Card (at about a dime higher per gallon). This Sam-guy looks at my CC real close and says, "You have a Lebanese name, but you don't look Lebanese." I tell him that my last name is German and I'm a first generation German - American. He started speaking Arabic to another Arabic guy behind the counter....they talk back-and-forth for a minute, then Sam looks at me and tells me that i should be ashamed to lie about my Lebanese heritage!!
I explain to this guy that I'm not Lebanese, I'm German. He says, 'You do not have dark skin like a Lebanese, but your nose and face have Lebanese features. I tell him, "Oh yeah? What about my red hair and beard?" He says, "You die it to disguise yourself." I was like WTF!!?? I stopped talking to him while he completed the transaction, and I just turned and started walking out. All the sudden, he says real loud, "Hey! You forgot this!" So I walk back and he hands me a "flyer" all written in Arabic. I grabbed it, left the store, threw the flyer away in the garbage, pumped my gas and left.
Today, i went back there to buy gas and this sam guy is at the till (as usual). He starts asking me what I thought about what was written on the paper he gave me about a week ago. I tell him that I cannot read any langauge but English, so I just threw it away. The guy gets pissed and says, "You can deny being Lebenese, but we know what you are." He goes on to say that if I had read the paper he gave me, my attitude about America would be different. What attutude about America????!!! I never ever spoke to this guy about anything but the shitty Michigan weather!!
So this gets me thinking: I wish I would have saved that flyer he gave me, but I didn't. I should have asked him for another one today, but I was mind-numbed by this guy and my mind was bouncing all over the place.
Do you think I should go back there and ask him for another one of these flyers? I cannot read whatever langauge it was written in, but I do work with a guy from Lebanon who might be able to give me the jist of it.
I don't know, but it seems like this guy has a real hard-on for America and is very pro Arabic or something....like militant. I'm tempted to falsely get in this guys good-graces to find out what his deal is. On the other hand, I really don't want to get involved in any weird shit...maybe I should just go to the police station and report what is going on? That doesn't seem right cause the guy really hasn't done or said anything illeagel that would warrant me going to the cops (the less I have to do with the cops, the better!).
Do you think i should "feel this guy out" and play along to see if he is a trouble maker or something?
Man, i stumble into weird shit!!!!
Thanks, TenMan
