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A Moroccan in San Francisco

Bari gave me a birthday card.  I opened it.  The inside was blank.

“You didn’t sign it,”  I said.

He didn’t know he was supposed to sign a card.  In Morocco they don’t celebrate birthdays.  There is no such custom of gift-giving, let alone card-giving.

“I’m learning,” he said.

He knew a guy who just arrived from Morocco and went into a restaurant to work.  Within two weeks he was kicked out.

“He doesn’t understand how people think here.  I tell him not to be discouraged.” Bari told me.  He has his share of suffering: discrimination, miscommunications, rejections, etc.  Recently he bought a car, working as a pizza delivery person.

“It’s better.  I feel freer working by myself.”

We had dinner at a Moroccan restaurant.  When we spoke Arabic to the server he replied in English.  There was no interest in making a deeper connection.  He was almost a one-man show, taking orders clearing tables running the cash register.

The food was not impressive.  We both knew what it should taste like.

Bari insisted on paying for dinner.

“Okay,” I said, and thanked him.

 

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A Dozen Red Roses

No matter how busy, Chi-an and Tom of Angkor Borei are always the gracious hosts.  Tonight their restaurant was filled with customers.  We were lucky to squeeze ourselves into its narrow hallway so we didn’t have to stand in the street to wait for a table.  Tom was surprised to see me.  Ever since we moved away from the neighborhood I hardly frequent the restaurant.  He gave me a big hug and went about with his take-out delivery.

There were times in the past when the restaurant was not so busy.  After they serve us lunch, Chi-an and Tom would come over and chat with us.  We learned that theirs was a second marriage for Chi-an.  When she met Tom she already had two children.

“Tom takes care of my children as if they were his own,” Chi-an told us.  “Every time I come back from Cambodia he comes to the airport with a dozen red roses.”

“Is that why you married him?” asked Dore.

You can tell when a woman is truly loved by her blushing smile, gleaming eyes, and her seemingly inexhaustible energy. And the man she loves has springy steps, a hearty laugh and generous disposition.

Photo from The Chronicle.

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