Saad

I took a very long lunch today. 2 hours, all told. It was that long because I was eating with a group of new grads and we wound up at this place that took for damn ever (good food though). This post isn't about that lunch though. It's about Saad, the driver of the shuttle from TCC to US1/2.

Generally when I take that shuttle I chat a little with Saad. Usually small talk. Today, for whatever reason, I decided to dig a little deeper and engaged him in a nice long talk. I want to record what I know about him because I was struck by his story.

First and foremost I found out today that Saad has no benefits as a driver for Standard Parking. Thats ok though because he recently put in his two weeks and will be opening a body shop in Des Moines, Washington. Amongst his first customers you'll find me and my Honda with it's missing undercarriage and various dents.

The more interesting tale is Saad's past. Which is almost cliche in it's tragedy, excuse me if I fore go the pun that is thundering in my mind as I type.

You see, Saad is Iraqi. He came to this country in 1991, and if you've been blessed with more acuity that I was you'll find the timing interesting. It seems Saad fought with Bush 42's forces against Saddam and made it all the way to Baghdad's borders when Bush pulled back out to Kuwait. There aren't words do describe the saturated frustration in his voice when we described this. "We were right there". Saad got a chunk of RPG shrapnel in his skull thrown in for good measure. So the American troops patched him up in Kuwait and he began his life as a refugee in the States. In the ensuing years his wife divorced and remarried (see, they are Shia, from about 30 minutes south of Baghdad). His Daughter got married and his Son Engaged.

It's not all bad though. I guess in Shia Islam the women doesn't automatically get the kids, it would seem the opposite is true. So his kids are with his mother and father and it looks like they talk often. Also, Saad's been sending money back since way before Saddam fell. This is huge, because the 6 houses he bought at an average price of 2000$ have since SKYROCKETED and this shuttle driver is worth roughly 1.2 million dollars. He would never sell the houses though, apparently a couple of them are on the river, and all are inhabited by family.

After a while I couldn't help ask about his feelings toward the current events out there. He said that the war was a good idea (at least for the Iraqis) and that the current problems are mostly seeping through the atrociously open borders.

Oh, and since whatshisbucket fell Saad's been home twice =-D. I asked if he'd ever go back for good and he said he will soon, when we can finally make a good enough living there to support his family.

I like Saad. I hope he doesn't rip me off for my body work.