Category: Article

I was disgusted, just keeping my hands to myself and sanitizing myself every time I left a store. Feeling my brain get tased at the thought of how I would have to wash everything again even after I just did before I went out. I was looking in a store, seeing as kids drew their eyes to many colorful items, as adults let their children run around the shops unsupervised, putting their hands everywhere while touching their faces and touching things again.  

The anxiety was building up inside of me just thinking what would happen if I didn’t because I was unaware of how everything worked. Like calculus or being trapped at an art museum, trying to comprehend what the artist was trying to convey.  

My hearing wasn’t focused on my surroundings, but my sight fell upon everything just perfectly. It felt like Halloween was just around the corner, and so many happy faces were searching the warehouse of Halloween decor. What looked like the only thing really putting on happy faces, even if it was through the thick fabric of the masks. The sound of mixed music filled the room as everyone walked around, picking out costumes and accessories.  

“I don’t know.” I tell my mother after she asks who I want to dress up as this year in very echoey voice. Much like she was talking straight into an active fan. Everything I was seeing, I wanted to be home more than touching anything. Knowing how much of a germaphobe I was, I had mixed feelings. I felt the world was never going to be the same because of how I couldn’t see how things really worked. How germs spread, where they were, and how often I need to defend myself.  

Having the thought stain my brain at the fact no one was listening, and everyone was trying to end my life. But things perked up once I got into the spirit, ditching the many negative thoughts, placing them aside as I laid my eyes on what could be the new me. “I was trying to be Doctor Faciliar.” I tell my mom as we wonder the many selections of wigs, picking one up and observing how the whole costume would work and how I could really pull this off. The more we talked about it somewhat whipped my mind off the cons, bringing in the positives and smiles to my face. Reminding me I was just over thinking things the whole time, seeing the world worse than what it really has come to be.  

I tend to exaggerate almost everything. Whether it’s a good or bad thing. What the situation might be, but I won’t know unless I see it for myself. Then the bright side starts to shimmer. Especially with Covid taking over my brain almost every second, it's hard to just brush everything off. What is happening around me, how much things are changing, and what must be done in order to prevent it before bigger events save the day, curing everything so things can be like normal. But who knows when that will be. For now, all anyone can do is wait.  

Faculty Adviser Note:In Spring semester 2020, Hassan and I had an idea for a podcast series named, ‘Confessions of a Lyft Driver’ inspired by the HBO series ‘Taxicab Confessions’.  Hassan wanted to share interesting stories from his personal experience as a Ride share driver.  We were only able to record one episode of the series before the pandemic. The interview below was really meant to be a preliminary exploration of the stories Hassan was willing to tell from the front seat. The interview below has been lightly edited for content, language, and coherence.

Dr. Dan

Act 1 – Hassan meets Black Jesus and makes a connection

Oh, I have another instance where I was taking a train to Aurora. I got off work and it was snowing like hell. I said I'm going to call Uber.

But before I called. I was reading into some history. About how the U.S. Marine Corps was started because I was reading these articles and how John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were basically dealing with Libyan pirates in Tripoli. And they had to build up a force, basically, a naval force to combat those extreme Islamist pirates. And what the article was getting into how the U.S. Military has been fighting Islam for over 300 years. I started thinking about the U.S. Marine Corps song that they would recite about the shores of Tripoli. This is freaking crazy, like, wow this is an amazing thing to know.

So the driver pulls up. This African American guy. And he's pretty cool. It smells like Black and Mild in the car. That's like a cigar. They have plastic tips. And they have a pungent smell. They don't smell too bad. They don't smell like cigarettes.

This guy seems pretty cool. I was talking to him and... I didn't mention that I read that article and he talked about being in the U.S. Marine Corps.

I said, 'Oh, really!' Because I just read an article about the history of the Marines. But he said, 'Yeah, yeah'. I said, 'Damn, you know this is the universe speaking. And he said, 'yeah, for sure. Yeah, man, we're blessed for sure' and I'm like this Dude is cool. We're having a good conversation, but it's mostly about how he was in the Marine Corps and he flew B-52s.

That's when the lies… he was basically lying about it. But I didn't find out until later because I was ignorant of what a B-52 was and he just kept claiming that he was Marine infantry who killed 24 people and that he flew B-52s. I said, ‘OK! I'd like to know more!’ Because it was interesting, like WOW! I was just reading about this and I met somebody who was in the Marines. You know I should connect with this person. I would like to learn from you. And he said, 'Ok! Ok! And he gave me his number and…he contacted me.

But here's the thing. I forgot to say the funniest thing…is that he was claiming he was Black Jesus and that he was being watched by the government… because he knew secrets and that he was indeed like Black Jesus.

Basically, he's talking about being the chosen one... And that's what piqued my interest. What does this guy know? It's a weird coincidence that this Dude is saying he's in the Marines and that he's like, he knows this secret stuff and that he's like Black Jesus. 

Act 2 – Things between Black Jesus and Hassan get weird

And he came the next morning, the very freaking next morning to where I was at. And I was like, this due is kinda crazy. But I guess, he drove down. He was running some errands. He was pretty normal. He was looking for a roomie. He was actually looking for a roommate for him at his house. Because he had a house. And he was looking to rent out his rooms. And I was looking to get out of that apartment…I met up. It was pretty normal.

So I went to check out his house. It was a good sized house, alright, for this guy having this sized house. I get inside. It's a freaking barn, dude. Like liquor bottles everywhere. Black and mild butts. It was just like crazy. I'm thinking, 'Dude. If I live here am I going to have to clean this…up constantly?’ And then his roommate was real sketchy. Quiet. Kept to himself. Kinda pushed back. This dude. I wasn't even trying to look in his room. I just wanted to look at the place. But he literally pushed me back from his room. So it was kinda sketchy...a bad energy.

Black Jesus asks to hang out. ‘Yeah, I got this chick and she wants to chill tonight. Let's kick it tonight.’ And I said, 'Alright, Alright, cool. but I have to work.' But he said, 'I'll pick you up'. I'm like 'Alright!'…So he comes and picks me up at work that night. I was a dishwasher at Sushi Den.

It smelled like alcohol in the car. And he said, 'here drink some of this'. This dude was driving drunk. And I said,  ‘Ok. Naw, I'm good.’ And as we left, I wanted to get out of the car but I didn't want to offend anybody because I just barely met this person. He's speeding down i-25 at like 110 miles per hour drunk just cutting through everybody. Surprisingly we didn't get into an accident. So we went to his friend's house. That's where the chick he was talking about was.

I find out from his friend that Black Jesus actually worked at Best Buy. I'm thinking, 'Alright so this dude was in the Marines but now he works at Best Buy.’. And the chick, he left this chick which was supposedly like the chick he was chillin’ with at his friend's house with his friend. And that was kinda sketchy as is. But I didn't think anything of it. I'm thinking, ‘Alright. I'll just go with the flow.’

And that night we drink a few beers and then later on maybe 2 in the morning I was taken back to where I lived. But he was drunk again, when he was driving me back. And as he was driving me back there happened to be cops. You know what he does? He rolls the window down and said, 'Hey, How's it going officers?'. And I got freaked the hell out. And I'm thinking, ‘Is this guy serious?' Does he want to get pulled over? Surprisingly the cops respond positively and don't even pull the guy over. I'm thinking, 'Holy s--- this guy is really sketchy.' And so then I hope that he doesn't call me tomorrow.

Act 3 – Hassan introduces Black Jesus to Charles Manson

The next day he freaking contacts me. I said, ‘Dude, I have to work today'. So he said, 'I'll come after work'. I said, 'I'm planning to go have a few drinks after work.’ And Black Jesus picks him up from work.

One of my…co-workers was this older guy who kinda looks like Charles Manson. He was really in the U.S. Navy. And he started talking. He wanted to get to know. Because I told him about him this guy was in the U.fS. Marine Corps. He wanted to get to know him. So he came to the bar and Black Jesus was kinda sketchy. Quiet. He had like a quiet demeanor. He's just looking around, you know,  like he was looking to start some problems. I'm thinking, 'oh, man'. He was kinda sketchy. Socially awkward.

My co-worker Charles Manson who had been in the U.S. Navy starts talking to him. To get something out of him. To start a conversation. So, of course, Black Jesus says to Manson, 'I was in the U.S. Marine Corps' And he said, 'Oh, really! What rank were you?’

And yada yada. I didn't hear what they said from there. But he said he flew B-52s' and there was a weird look on Manson's face, like 'Oh, really! Oh! Really!'  And he said that he was a HALO diver who killed 24 people.

Mr. Manson-look-alike said, 'Hassan come here, I need to talk to you for a quick second. He's telling me he was in the U.S. Marine Corps and that he flew B-52s. Hassan, I'm going to let you know right now that B-52s haven't existed since World War 2. They haven't been flown since World War 2.’ And I said, 'Are you serious?' and he said, 'Yeah, this guy is lying. This guy is lying.’

My other buddy starts talking to Black Jesus outside. And they started getting sort of in each other's face.  Black Jesus says, ‘Do you know what I do to people that, who don't listen to me. And don't acknowledge this?’ And he pulls out his freaking knife.

And I said, 'oh, crap!’ So I get in between them and say, 'Dude, this Dude has no problem'. Black Jesus says, 'Thanks, Blessed Child! Thanks, Blessed Child!' He treated me special, you know, because I was the one who brought him here. Black Jesus says, 'Thanks Blessed Child! Thank you for keeping me from stabbing this dude'.

Act 4 – The Uber Driver from Hell

Alright! Remember how I told you about the night before, that, I went to his friend's house it seemed kind of normal and he had his girl. The girl he was talking to staying at his friend's house. Later on that night, I and Charlie Manson look-a-like, go to his house. We go to this guy's house because Manson lookalike is actually trying to find a place, too.

And we're in the garage and he's being disrespectful to this dude who was in the US Navy, too. He's like talking disrespectfully to him. Talking respectfully to me. But he's talking disrespectfully basically to everyone else around me. It was kind of weird…and he was drunk, too. My buddy from work is just…agreeing with him and just trying to get to the point and get out.

Out of nowhere, this guy calls the cops on his buddy with the girl… and he tells us to stay right there for it and he starts falsely accusing his friend who he worked with at Best Buy and that I found out he's delusional and that he had a drinking problem. He starts falsely accusing this guy of raping the chick that he was talking to who he had left at the house.

I said, ‘we need to get out of here!’ But Charlie quickly leaves first and takes off. I said, ‘Damn. I'm going to have deal with this guy for literally the next half an hour.’

I told Black Jesus, ‘Dude, I'm just going to call an Uber. I have to go to sleep.’ and he said, 'I'll call you tomorrow, man, to see whats up!'

That was an Uber Driver from hell. Never read a story about how the Marine Corps was started and think that a coincidence happens.

Rania Musharbash has short curly hair, pretty blue eyes, and she loves wearing athletic clothes and jewelry. She loves earrings but her favorite accessories are simple rings. She is not too tall; however, when she’s in a room everyone notices. With a loud personality and an extremely creative mind, Rania is a very fun person to be around. She is an expert at event planning. Since 2005, she has planned many successful events including her brother’s wedding with six hundred guests. Rania prides herself on turning dream events into realities by simply talking to her clients. Her hands make the impossible possible. They are extremely important in her success because she does a lot of backdrops and centerpieces from scratch. She turns construction paper into beautiful and colorful flowers. 

Rania co-owns an event planning business called Lasting Moments. There are two locations: one in Canada and the other in Colorado. They started their business about two months ago and they’re “just getting started” as Rania says. On days that she has events, Rania plans for everything. Usually with visible papercuts all over her hands from getting the centerpieces prepared, she leaves her house ready to take on the day. She has supreme time management skills and she is extremely organized. As an event planner, good vendor contacts are important assets, which thankfully, she has.

           There are high expectations when it comes to event planning. Not only from clients but also from the event planners themselves. Rania always wants to outdo herself and takes every event seriously. Event planning can be complicated and extremely stressful. Many people might think it’s easy but Rania believes it is the complete opposite: sometimes things just don’t go as planned.

When asked to compare corporate events and social events, Rania said they were completely different. She prefers social events simply because she gets to see her clients’ dreams come true one step at a time. In order to assure satisfaction, Rania asks a couple of important questions that give her a better understanding of a client’s needs. She first asks about their expectations, budget and theme.  She also always finds out if there is a religion or culture that she should take into consideration. “Honestly the little things count more than the big things,” she said.

The budget is one of the most important things to keep in mind while planning an event. Rania always meets with clients to make sure both parties are on the same page. Dealing with clients is a part of the job and it is not always the easiest. It is important to have the communication skills to deal with complicated clients. “They want a champagne lifestyle but they live on a beer budget,” Rania said jokingly. When you deal with situations like that, take a deep breath and explain to the clients why they can’t have certain things. Do not just say no. Instead, give them alternatives that fit their budget.

After meeting with clients, it’s time for picking out the venue location. Rania is the kind of event planner who doesn’t make decisions without a client’s consent; she includes them every step of the way.  “The event is for my client not for me,” she said.

Event planning can be complicated, fun and hectic but for Rania, it is a hobby she can’t live without. When asked about her favorite event, Rania’s answer was her brother’s wedding. It was a six hundred guest event. Planning it was tough to handle, but she knew that with enough preparations, she could do it. She had to make sure to get the right flowers, a limo and many other necessary items.  The most important task, however, was making sure the day went perfectly. From the bride getting her hair done in the morning all the way to cake cutting at the ceremony. It’s hard work but definitely worth every drop of sweat.     

            While it is important to always plan ahead, event planners know that sometimes, for better or for worse, things don’t go as planned. Last-minute parties like the Superbowl are common in event planning.  Rania once had three days to plan one. When asked about her experience planning such parties, she answered that she loves them as long as she has easy access to the necessary equipment.

Rania’s least favorite event to work are bachelor and bachelorette parties. According to her, no matter how much you plan, something always goes the opposite way. Everyone gets drunk and things start going bad. “No matter how fancy and nice you plan it or how much time you spend to make sure everything goes as planned, something will end up on the other side of the world. They think that’s the last time they can have fun and drink,” she said.  “I have been to many events and I have seen it all,” she added while laughing.

         A huge part of having a successful event planning business is a good online presence. Hashtags help get attention from potential clients, so it is important to have a well-maintained web page. Rania is just getting started with her business and it will take some time before social media gets as big as she wants it to be.

While there are many apps available to make event planning easy, most of them are quite confusing. It is important to keep in mind that having an event planner is a way to turn dream events into realities without lifting a finger. 

I swung over my shoulder, my navy-blue sweater and laced my black Nike Huaraches. It was time to go on a walk and along with me came my mom and my dog, a white Bichon Poodle named Bones. Once we stepped foot outside the door my mom aimed her lighter and lit a Marlboro cigarette, the faint smoke was being pulled towards my direction. We began on foot and the air had no wind, it felt good, no heat, it was light and cool. There were blue skies and faded clouds with the right amount of sun peeking out behind.

            To me, this October feels like it has gone by very quickly. And it has been by far the busiest for me. But, despite the overload of work and fast pace of time, it has always been one of my favorite times of the year. Luckily, much of the neighborhood has their houses and lawns decked out with Halloween decorations such as a blown up Frankenstein, spiderwebs, and pumpkins, I believe it always makes the block more colorful and in essence of the holiday spirit. I suppose some people are expecting trick or treaters because I saw bowls without candy outside and a couple signs that say, “Trick or Treat.” But another con of this October, and specifically this year is the pandemic, I am not sure how Halloween will play out this year for the trick or treaters.

            I notice today appears to be a popular day to be out for my area. There are many cars coming up and down the street going at somewhat fast pace, it seems people have places to be this morning. Although usually it is very opposite where I live, quiet and not much to notice. As we crossed the road to make a turn towards the park, there was a little boy riding a blue tricycle going around and around in circles and I thought to myself, how days once consisted of imagination, time, repetition, and playfulness. Kids are not thinking about the election, the pandemic, or school. So, I wonder what it is like to grow up during these times? But of course, there are different answers depending on the situation.

            We were getting closer to the park and I saw a helicopter and a group of geese flying above us. Nearby the park is an elementary school and once we got near, I saw a flyer hanging on the school's brick wall. I notice it shows their remodel plan and my mom and I wanted to take a closer look at it. As I take a peek at the school's vision I mentioned to my mom, “It looks more modern and futuristic, there are more windows and they are pretty wide, but there is hardly any color or much to play with on the playground.” She replied, “You would think with the people's tax money they would add more than windows and nice detail inside but also a playground that is vibrant and fun.” We began to move further from it and towards the trail, I was able to see the school in the process of reconstructing along the way and it already appears big. It brought me back to a time when my elementary school was remodeled and even as a kid I would think to myself it was starting to look different, more new, without a variety to imagine and play with.      

It felt good to be outside and accompanied by my mom, since coronavirus emerged my family and I have changed much of our social lifestyle and rarely are out unless it is necessary. My mom turned to me and said, “Times are rough for those whose life’s can be and have been affected by covid but walks like these allow us to be out and recollect ourselves.” And it is true, for some the weight of the pandemic is heavier, and something as simple as a walk allows there to be time without strict precautions or worry. Sometimes I see individuals during a walk with masks and others not but this time there was no other person in sight with a face covering other than us. When we would walk by others, even though we were wearing masks, people would still walk feet apart. But a couple times I had to distance Bones from other dogs, preventing them both from trying to walk towards each other.

Besides being cautious of health measures, the walk was refreshing, peaceful, and provided a pleasing sight to see. In more particular, the season did. Our shoes were crushing the leaves on the ground and I could hear a crunch along with every step, I have always enjoyed that sound. I have also always admired trees, even the ones that kill your grass, but the fall colors, and gloomy turn is a blessing to nature. As I was walking along the trail, my head was bent back looking up at the old and huge trees hovering over us. The trees are in their prime time of fall being full and layered with red, orange, and gold blending leaves. And for a split second there was no talking, no background noise, and just a moment to enjoy and admire the scenery. I got a quick whiff of a scent that smelled of dried leaves. On the concrete, was the shadow of the tree's trunk from the sun gleaming behind them.

            After the forty-five-minute walk we were close to home. The neighborhood was the same as it was when we left, busy. There were neighbors outside conversating, leaf blower sounds in the background, and dogs barking at the mailman. Yet, I felt relaxed and my body felt like I just had a workout, my dog was panting and after he drank some water he laid down, I think he felt the same. It was nice to get out and see what is new in the neighborhood, feel the fall and Halloween atmosphere, and simply get some fresh air.