Ramzi the #1 Chewing Gum Salesman in Jordan University

This is a true story, that I've witnessed during my university years... it started sometime around 1998... his name was Ramzi, I would never forget for he crafted his name so neatly on that notebook... his journey probably started at the tender age of Seven...

He used to hold his tiny box of half full SB Gum, a box that looked a bit too large for his small hands... He would look you in the eye for a second, smile and walk those tiny steps in the hope that you would buy the product he is promoting, (his innocence and compassion)...

He was different, he was polite, never said a bad word... a kid selling chewing gum... At days you would see him running away from university guards, who used to kick them out and confiscate his tiny box... his tiny source of livelihood...

Ramzi grew up in a university surrounded by young men and women who knew him well, some hated the way he looked, some loved his spirit... I clearly remember the day when one of those young men bought him a present... An empty notebook, a pencil, a rubber and a couple of other things and told him: "you should learn how to read and write and I will help you do it... but you have to promise me one thing... commitment"

You could see the excitement in his eyes, in his smile and you could feel the determination that was about to die... I used to see him sitting on the steps at the "square", beside him was that young man, teaching him, letters and syllables... ooh how he was holding that notebook so dearly and crafting the letters of his own name... He could have become a great Calligraphist, he had the most beautiful writing... And you could tell he was proud of the letter "Ra" in Arabic...

His eyes lit up at words of encouragement, you could hear him say "I want to learn writing and reading in English as well!... and math I want to know how to calculate what I sell and what money I should have :)"

But Alas, as time passed by, you could no longer see the young man sitting with him on the steps... you could no longer see the notebook nor the pencil... it ended as it started... it was just another story that would never be told...

Ramzi, didn't learn much... just a few letters and numbers and his own name... he grew up to become less of a gentleman with each passing year, but you could tell this man was different...

I was with that young man who once became known as the teacher of a young chewing gum seller, when I saw Ramzi a few years ago in the pedestrian tunnel just outside the university's main gate... Ramzi's small box of chewing gum is now different, its a larger wooden box with tissues, cigarette lighters, and lots of other things... He has changed, grew up in size but his smile was the same, it started and ended in his eyes... The excitement he felt when he saw his teacher was unbelievable... they shook hands had a small talk...

Ramzi was still kind at heart, you could feel it... A teenager with a cigarette, who insisted on buying his teacher a cup of coffee, a generous teenager who never forgot that one day both of them tried to conquer the world... and dared to live a dream... that someday, Ramzi would read the newspaper out loud to his teacher...