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Seven8Six and Yaser Dot Org

by HijabMan :: posted 11 April 07

As much as the name HijabMan gets a lot of attention, I actually lead a very quiet life, spending most of my time alone in the comfort of my apartment in West Philadelphia. My socializing tends to happen in spurts- usually around conference time.

These past few weeks, however, have seen a whirlwind of activity, which is why I haven’t been posting (look forward to 2-3 posts a week). It started with K, a woman I’ve spoken with on-line for roughly 4 years asking me if I was in Philadelphia. Her husband Aadil happened to be in town. A day later, Yaser of Yaser.org e-mailed me and mentioned that he’d be in Philadelphia. He had planned to sleep in the airport (uhh, not while I’m around, man!) A day after that, Zafar, of the Muslim singing sensation Seven8Six messaged me on facebook about being in town.

What made this all fairly interesting was that I’ve never really met these people in person. I would also be meeting them on consecutive days. So on Tuesday, I met Aadil. Within the first few minutes of meeting him, a man stopped us on the street near my apartment and asked if we’d like to buy a big cardboard box full of cereal. Without even looking at the cereal, I said I would. After I had agreed, I found that I only had a dollar in my wallet. So, what did I do? Well, I asked Aadil to give me three bucks, of course!

You should’ve seen the look on his face. He wasn’t sure if I was serious but soon realized that I wasn’t kidding. After a little hesitation, he gave me what looked like his last three dollars. He makes a first good impression. I, on the other hand… heeheehee

Turns out it was a bunch of free-sample packs of organic [yay!] cereal. Aadil later discovered that it was expired, but it still tasted good! We hit it off, and enjoyed some cheesesteaks at Saad’s and some chai at my place.

The next day, Aadil met my two buddies Ibtisam and Jonah and we all played Scrabble until 11 PM, at which point I dropped Aadil off and hauled my bum to the airport to pick up Yaser.

Yaser described himself as a “subdued nutjob” on the way back to my place. Most people would think twice about bringing someone who calls themselves a “nutjob” into their home, but I had a feeling that if there was ever a situation in which I wanted some cash to buy some cereal on the street, Yaser would hand it over just as Aadil had. That that sort of feeling tends to accurately predict someone I’d get along with.

We returned to my place around midnight, and started another game with Ibtisam and Jonah. Since Yaser was only in town for a day, I left the 3 of them there, and drove to Halal Bilal’s Steak & Take, and got us some cheese-steaks.

We fell asleep at around 3 AM- bellies full, only to wake up a couple hours later. I drove Yaser to Center City, and then I ran to work. At 4:30, I drove straight to the airport and picked up Zafar. His plane was delayed at the gate, so I put my hazards on and parked on the shoulder with the windows open- enjoying the Spring-like weather.

After driving him to his hotel, we made our way to Halal Bilal’s Steak and Take (again) for 3 more cheesesteaks. Then drove into Center City to pick up Aadil so we could all enjoy the meal at my place. Afterwards, I dropped them both off at their hotels with the idea that I could get them both to the airport the next afternoon.

The next morning, I went to work, got off at 12:30, and to my dismay it was raining. Traffic was horrible, but I managed to pick up Aadil at 1 pm (his flight was at 3:20). Then, we drove out to Germantown to pick up Zafar at 2 pm (getting lost once). From there, I would try to get them to the airport by 2:30.

With Aadil clenching his buttochs the whole way afraid they’d miss his flight, I threw my foot on the gas, weaving in and out of ridiculous amounts of traffic on I-76 East. At 2:35, I pulled up to their Terminal. Yeehaw.

The day after that, a friend of mine working on a PBS documentary came to town, and we had cheese-steaks at Saad’s (yeah, again). While he was getting a drink, a woman turned to me, stared for 20 seconds, and then mouthed, “HijabMan?”

I turned to the left and there was AzamHussain’s sister and some other friends from Chicago. A couple days later, I was sharing cheesecake with them. The day after that? I was on a flight to Texas…

Random people met: I lost count
Cheese-steaks eaten: Almost a dozen
Bean pies consumed: Half-dozen
Work done: Zero

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1. koi at 12 April 07 :: #

   cheese steaks sound yum. i’ve never had one.

2. Adnan. at 12 April 07 :: #

   what’s a cheese steak?

3. UmmFarouq at 13 April 07 :: #

   Suddenly I have a craving! Good grief I’m sitting here trying to be all satisfied with the emptiness in my belly but by golly, now I need a cheesesteak.

   Everything is pretty much halal here, but the only place I’ve found an attempt at a decent cheesesteak is a place called Chili House.

   Wonder how they’d fare via FedEx?

4. subdued nutjob at 13 April 07 :: #

   omg, there’s a pop-up video thing with you talking. and i’m not random! but bless your soul for all that you’ve done for me and everyone else. hopefully you got enough sleep the weekend after…

   and adnan: you should try the ‘quick-pita’ place on college. they have cheese-steaks now, and it’s 100% halal. and the guy at the counter calls you ‘janaab.’

5. fathima at 13 April 07 :: #

   so what, now yaser is going to go around calling himself “subdued nutjob” on the net?
   and also, there are so many people at quick pita and none of them ever called /me/ “janaab.” and also, they speak spanish? among other things?

6. Anjum at 16 April 07 :: #

   damn yo, shouldn’t i get a mention in this too? being one of the random ppl who visited recently?

   other than that.. nice update. i am liking yaser’s new nick.

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