File Under Life is Great Department

File under Life is Great Dept:

Pull into a sh*t gas station this morning. Guy dressed in filthy brown snowsuit comes out to the pump.

Greets me with "Bon jour. Ca va?" Completely unexpected... To which I begin to reply in Spanish before my under caffeinated IQ can switch to French and appropriately answer "Tres Bien, et vous?"

He takes my card. I say Merci. He waves me off with a casual "Au revoir."

As I'm closing my wallet, he walks to the bay across the way to fill another car. He calls back to me. "Are you Lebanese?" And I'm thinking where the hell did that come from… But he's right. I am. But I'm also Italian and German. My name is so benign, I'm stunned he guessed.

I laugh and shout back: "Are you Lebanese talking in French to me?" He says, "No I'm Moroccan"...

But turns out another guy, who had popped out from under a hood, is Lebanese. That guy and I chatted about what village my grandfather was from in Lebanon and as I'm rolling up my window I make him laugh by saying, "Au revoir cousin." Because if you are Lebanese everyone is your cousin, and your elders are called Aunt or Uncle.

America is already GREAT.

Fantastic start to my day.

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