My grandfather, Auda, has a story that is an inspirational one. He left from Basra to Baghdad while he was only 13 years old and had no one in Baghdad waiting for him. He didn't tell anyone, just got up one day, borrowed his cousin's ID, and traveled on train with absolutely no money. He spent the entire train ride on top of the train for a distance of 530 Kilometers.
Personally, I would have spent that time scared shitless, my grandfather? According to the friend he made that day on the trip, he actually fell asleep 10 minutes into the ride.
Now, arriving at the train station in Baghdad. It was nighttime, my grandfather was broke. What if I told you that the night ended with my grandfather sleeping in a hotel, not only that, but he also paid for the room for the friend he made on the train? Would you believe me?
Well, the way he did it was: he stood next to the station's toilet and charged everyone going in for what equals 10 cents. That's right, my grandfather was charging people to use the bathroom. Sadly for him, he tried to charge the manager of the station and ended up getting beat up and kicked out.
You'd think after that he'd learn but nope. Right across the street from the train station there was a bus station. Liking the idea he decided to go there and start charging all the drivers and passengers fees for peeing. He went to Baghdad with nothing and ended the night able to afford not one, but two hotel rooms after a fancy dinner.
However, my grandfather didn't take his luck and go elsewhere. He hired himself as toilets manager at the Baghdad bus station. Taking advantage of the fact that most people are visitors and don't know that there isn't such a thing as toilets manager. Especially since my grandfather had actually bought a vest and had a tailor sewing a tag that says "Toilet manager".
In defense of my grandfather, I would say that if you think you can be charged for using the toilet at a government facility, you should be charged for using it.
Sadly for my grandfather again, months after he hired himself as toilet manager; he was caught and beat up by the drivers and passengers for charging them. It may sound like a sad ending, but he will always be the teen who charged people for using the bathroom for months.
The story of his start didn't end there. After getting beat up, he was walking home and found a big line and just decided to stand in it. He didn't know what it was for. And according to him, he decide to join the line because he figured "If people were standing in line for it, it must be worth some money"
The line was for a newly established electricity company. And, he got the job by simply lifting a ladder and pretending to be a man who had a long experience in working with electricity, even though he was from a village in Basra that didn't even have electricity.
He got the job in the 1940s and kept it until he retired in the early 2000s because he refused to retire because the more he worked the more benefits he'd receive from the government.
Between getting on a train's top, charging people for using the toilet, and working as an electrician, my grandfather was committed. Wanna know how committed he is to everything he does?
Well, at the start of the post I said that his name was Auda. The reason I did that is because that was the name in his ID, or more like it, his cousin's ID card. From the age of 13 and until he died, he kept that ID card with him until he died and just let people and even his family members call him Auda even though his name is Qassim.
I have known my grandfather for 18 years of my life, and I learned his true name accidentally exactly three days ago...