When over a coffee one becomes energized it is not necessarily due to the caffeine in your cup.  It could be a nice sight, a bird, a school bus or anything else for that matter or in a more mundane way, perhaps simply someone you talk to.

I got my jolt this morning by meeting two people I don’t know that much on a personal level but that in some funny kind of way are very interesting to me.  I’ve had occasional chats with them and unfortunately for them, I usually end up being the only one talking.   I am so thankful that they’ve always shown a great deal of graciousness towards me by politely listening to my stories..   That’s nice and very American which is not the mentality I grew up with.

The mentality I grew up with is what I equate to that of a chess player.  Always thinking about the next and next and next move way down the line.   Always thinking that your opponent is not up to par with you in the game of life not withstanding the fact that she/he might be much better off than you in many ways.  When it comes to the game of life though, this mentality has the particularity of being a mix of fatalism and optimism, two diametrically opposed concepts.

Of course, the mentality I am talking about is as complex as any but somewhat peculiar.  It takes root in a curious mix of the French, Spanish, Jewish, Corsican, Italian, even German and Irish ways of life these people brought along with them as they migrated to North Africa.  Mix this up with Arabs, Islam, and a war, the cross acculturation and the streets of Oran in Algeria, combined with bombs blowing up in movie theaters, guns at an early age, best teenage friends killed, assassinated, dismembered, slaughtered, large families, laughter, learning Arabic as a second language and the list of mixes goes on and on and you get the life story of the man I’ll call “Jack”.

Jacks stories start at what he calls the beginning of the 100 year war.  The one we’re in now that is.  A war which in his opinion can be won  together with the other side.  Weird wouldn't you say?

Jack’s life-story is made up of countless anecdotes and observations.  They will not be recanted here in a chronological fashion but rather as political, religious or cultural events of the day dictate.... 

To be continued….