The Best Time of the Year For Me & the Janitor

Why is this the best time of the year ? Is it because it’s Eid-al-adha ? Well, the official definition says we’re to celebrate Eid Al-Adha because Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son to affirm the strength of his faith in God. Some of the Muslim, Jews, and Christians I know are willing to start fist-fights over whether his son’s name was Ismaeil or Isaac; like it makes a difference. Could it be that a delusional man in a moment of temporary insanity listened to the voices in his head and was about to murder his son ? No, that is no reason to celebrate. Not when we have news of people actually throwing live babies in dumpsters.

Should I celebrate Christmas because Jesus was born ? A quote my old school headmaster used to be fond of (For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life). Could it be Mary needed an explanation of her pregnancy out of wedlock, and having the son of God seemed like a good excuse at the time. The Catholic church back when it actually had power initiated the crusades, and in our times George W. still claims to be on a crusade in Jesus’s name while invading someone else’s country. That is no reason to celebrate.

Should I then celebrate Chanukah because the Jewish second temple was rebuilt (and later destroyed) ? Again the answer is no, because on that same mountain (the temple mount) Muslims built the Aqsa mosque, and according to the book of Mark Jesus prayed there. This significance of Jerusalem to the 3 religions are part of why this city never found peace.

Should I celebrate because I get time off from work ? No, I get a weekend every week. Every day my 2 sisters and I go to work, come home at different times, have dinner, and go to our rooms, often never seeing each other all day or even all week.

Only on Eid do my parents travel to Amman from Ramallah, and my brother travels here from the US. The whole family comes together. Call it Eid, Christmas, Chanukah, “the holidays”, “time off”. It’s a glue that helps keep us together.

Why is Eid so important to our Garbage man ? Every Eid, the city garbage collectors knock on our door, and ask for their Eidiyeh (holiday bonus); every year my dad obliges them. The one Eid where my parents couldn’t make it to Amman, I answered the garbage man’s knock instead. He asked the usual question. kul 3am wu intu bkheir (happy holidays), and then something that amounts to “Where is my money?” My answer was a little different than my father’s however. The apple fell far from the tree. I told the garbage man, I pay income tax, sales tax, and a garbage collection fee on my utility bill every month, and that what I pay goes to the Greater Amman Municipilaty (GAM), and they are the ones responsible for giving him his bonus. Too much information. He asks “where’s your dad ?”. I close the door. So why doesn’t GAM pay its workers a bonus ? and has them instead knocking on people’s door’s asking for money like beggars ?

Am I being stingy or evil by not giving an impoverished worker a few JDs ? I don’t think so. I would gladly spend 50JD to invite some friends to a meal, or give them a gift. Yet I won’t give 1 JD to a beggar who actually needs it. Where is the logic in that ?

I remember this one summer (about 20 years ago) where my family along with my cousins were going to swim and have lunch at the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem. Just before we left the house, the doorbell rang. It was a beggar saying something about not being able to feed his family, and having not smelled bread for I don’t know how long. As a kid I cried and cried and cried over this. Here we were without a care in the world about to go swimming, while this man was trying to feed his children. Where is the justice ?

So, what happened ? How did that cute kid turn into me ? As reality set in, and the innocence faded; I realised I am only a man. I will not be able to save the world. So I made a compromise. I will try to be good to the people I know, and that will be enough. Enough for what ? Enough to satisfy what is left of that child who once cried for a beggar more than 20 years ago.