Hanging with Mansour Round 2

            After our riveting discussion in our first meeting, I was excited to get the chance to hang out with Mansour again. We decided that meeting at our original spot, the bookstore, was not the greatest idea, considering Middle Eastern men and sketchy threats at the bookstore don’t necessarily mix well. So, we sat outside of 1776 (my friends and I always call 1873 by a different year) and had a conversation.

            I have been sick with bronchitis since about Monday or Tuesday, so my voice wasn’t in the greatest shape. Mansour actually had some interesting advice to offer about soothing my throat. His secret recipe was to just take water and squeeze fresh lemon into it (lemonade without the sugar), but then the kicker was to add fresh mint. He said it’s delicious. I have yet to try it, because most stores don’t carry fresh mint and I haven’t felt up to walking to Kroger yet. But, I look forward to the experiment.

            Anyways, it didn’t take long for our conversation to center around the drug busts on campus. Do you want to know what they do in Saudi Arabia if you bring drugs from outside the country? Kill you. Good thing Tanner Brock & Co. don’t live in Saudi Arabia. But, this led me to ask whether there was corruption in his country, because clearly there are drugs. He said no, you couldn’t pay off the authorities to smuggle your drugs into the country. But, you can treat the authorities to a very lavish dinner that will cost you a pretty penny. Tempting people with food? Sounds like college.

            That raised a different sort of thought to me; I can’t really imagine what it would be like to face capital punishment for most crimes. I mean, I guess it would greatly discourage people from committing crimes. It would also lead to a lot of dead people. Maybe they would even out. I feel like that is a weird question to ask though.

            We found another mutual interest: table games like ping pong and pool. We have tables for both in the Rec, so I’m thinking about seeing if he wants to go there and play for our next meeting. That would be fun.

            Well, Mansour and I seem to have a lot of common, and I feel like the more we meet, the better of friends that we are going to become.