Now that's a good question

link Grant McGee

hear about stuff going on over in the Middle East I remember the time I used to know a couple from Lebanon who ran a business in one of the big cities here in The Great American Southwest.

Bashir and Yara had a small store in a big shopping mall in the big city.

Bashir and Yara's shop was called “Express Yourself,” a shop filled with swimsuits in the front and what they called “exotic dancewear” in back. Asked about his clientele, Bashir would break into a huge, toothy grin and proclaim, “Our customers are soccer moms and strippers.”

What I remember most about Bashir and Yara was how they missed Lebanon.

I knew Bashir and Yara the year that Bashir was making plans for a trip back home.

It was interesting how the two of them felt totally different about Bashir's trip.

“Oh I will get to see my mother,” Bashir gushed as he arranged his wares in his store and talked about his upcoming journey. “And family will come over and there'll be so much food.”

“I am so worried about his trip,” Yara would say when Bashir was away from the store. “There is so much violence back home, I wish he would wait until things calm down.”

Then Bashir was off on his trip back home to Beirut. In a couple of weeks he was back at work, beaming and telling stories of good times and great food.

The story I most remember about Bashir going home was of his arrival at the airport in Lebanon.

“I walk up to customs,” Bashir said, “And here is this man from The United Nations demanding my passport. He looks it over then looks at me and says, 'What is your business in Lebanon?' I looked at him, smiled and said, 'That's what I should be asking YOU.'”

Bashir and I had a laugh over that.

If it'd been me I'd have probably done the same thing.

Grant McGee is a long-time broadcaster and former truck driver who rides bicycles and likes to talk about his many adventures on the road of life. Contact him at his blog: grantmcgeewrites.com.