Ibrahim Alriman
Leslie McDaniel
English 100
10 February 2011
The Man Who Changed My Life
When I was in my English language classes, I heard of a woman who helped change America. Her name was Harriet Tubman. She helped take black American people out of the south so they weren’t slaves anymore. Sometime later the slaves stopped in America and people remember her for helping save so many people from the slaves people. After she died, people wanted to live like her and help black people have a better life in America. She still influences many people even though she is dead. The same kind of person changed my life. Since I was born I have met thousands of people, but I have never met someone like the man I want to tell you about.
He showed me how to care for other people. One day we were sitting with a group of people. An old man came into the place we were sitting in and this man who I am with stood up. He said to this old man, “You should stay in my place” because there was not enough place for the old man. I stood up with this man, and I didn’t know why he did this. I know he didn’t know him. After we walked away from the people, I asked this man “Why did you do this thing?” He said, “The old people you should care about and respect them to make the younger people to care about and respect you.” Another time we were in a big store buying stuff for home. When we were in front of the cashier, there was a young boy. He was talking to the cashier because there was not enough money to pay for his stuff. This man who I was with just walked to that young boy and gave him the rest of the money. The young boy was shocked. He asked the man who I was with, “Do you know me?” The man who I was with said, “No. I just know you need help.” The boy said, “Thank you, sir.” This man answered him, “Don’t thank me. Just help someone else, and you will have thanked me.”
Besides teaching me how to care for other people, he also showed me how to be honest. We have an idiom in Arabic that says, “Honesty is the way to survive, good or bad.” This man used to tell me a story. He told me about an old man who used to have a sheep farm at the end of the town. The sheep farmer was always lying to all the people in the town. This farmer came to the people in the city to get help. The farmer said to them that the wolf came out and ate all his sheep. He said he needed help. When the people went there, they found out he was lying. The people in the city did not trust him anymore because of what he had done. One day the real wolf came out and ate all the sheep. The farmer was crying and yelling to the city people asking them for help, but none of them paid attention to him. They did not trust him anymore. He tried to teach me that being honest was better than being a liar. If I tell the truth, I can get help from people.
Back home we used to take the milk from the camel twice a day, one in the early morning and the other after sunset. One day I forgot. I slept and couldn’t wake up in the morning. The time we were eating our lunch, this man asked me, “Did you get the milk out of the camel this morning?” I was looking at him. When I looked at him, he looked like he didn’t know anything. I answered him “Yes” because I was scared to make him angry. He said, “So where is the milk?” I said, “I drank it with my friends.” After we finished our lunch, he told me to come to his room. He said to me, “I knew that you were lying at me, but I don’t want to put you in a bad situation in front of our family. I am 80 years old. I spent 30 years with the camel, so I can tell if you took the milk out or not.” At that time, I couldn’t say one word. He said to me, “Why are you scared to tell me the truth? Are you afraid I will kill you if you didn’t tell me? Do you think it will make a difference with the camels? We will get more milk at the sunset. I want you to be honest with me and all people because all the time the liars will not be a good friend to the people.” I am happy I learned how to be honest from him.
Not only me but also five other men were changed because of this great man. After he passed away, I could see his life in each of the five people. These men are my uncles, and they are very good to their friends, wives, children, and everyone they meet. They expect people to care for others and to say the truth. They work hard because they remember his example. Although my Grandfather, Hussain Ali Al Riman, has passed away, I will never forget the influence he has had on me and so many others. Even though he is not with our family anymore, we each still have a special part of him to remember inside each of us.
