I couldn't pronounce his name so I just called him Al. Al and I were working for a painting contractor in Nashville Tennessee. This was the first day that Al and I would work together. We were painting dormers on a five story building. We had to use safety ropes to get down to the faces of the dormers. One had to hold the rope and one had to paint.

Al and I took turns painting the dormers. The streets below were packed with people walking to and fro. While I was nervously hanging on to a rope that Al was holding, Al shouted,"Hey Tom, check out the asses on those chicks!

I shouted back,"Al, quit looking at asses and pay attention to what the hell you are doing!" Al looked down and me and grinned, saying,"I can look at asses and watch your ass at the same time."

When it was Al's turn to paint a dormer, I looked down at him and shouted," Hey Al, check out the cleavage on the pink sweater!" I let about a foot of slack out on the rope as he twisted around to see. He slipped a little and screamed," Tom, you f***ing ......give me heart attack...you f***ing...dog!"

I looked down at him and grinned.

We finished the dormers and decided to eat lunch on the roof. We began talking about religion.

Al said.....the Koran is the only truth!

I say..... that's what all religions say.

Al said.....the Koran is the only pure book that has not been soiled by men.

I say.....you mean tampered with, right?

Al said....right.....it is the truth of Mohammad!

I asked.....why do you hate Jews so much?

Al said......because they hate us.....it is prophesied that all Jews must serve or perish and all others of this world, become our servants!

I say.....servants huh....so your religion is destined to rule the world?

Al answered......pretty much so.....we are true and we are clean!

I asked....clean....what do you mean by clean?

Al said....we are clean in body and soul......(he then added)....we only wipe our asses with our left hand.

I say......you're kidding....you can't wipe with your right?

Al said......it is a sin!

I thought for a moment and asked.......what if you don't have a right arm?

Al answered.....you must get someone to wipe you with their left hand.

Al went on saying.....we must be clean when we pray and when we go to the Mosque.

I asked...you mean take a bath?

Al answered......yes...we must have a clean body!

I had to ask.....what if you let a fart on the way to the Mosque?

Al, with a very serious look on his face, said.....we must return home and take a bath....we must be clean....then we go to pray.

We talked a little more and Al told me that he would bring me a copy of the Koran . Al was 37 years old at the time and he had a 15 year old bride to be waiting back in Turkey for him. He showed me her picture, she was very pretty. I asked Al," Isn't she a little young for you?' He laughed and said,"When I am old, she will still be young enough to care for me!"

Al brought me an English version of the Koran a few days later. I read through it, off and on that summer. I found the book to be poetic but never found hatred or genocide being part of it. I would guess that there are many different interpretations, just as in other religions.

Perhaps Al was a redneck Muslim....I don't know? He was a man who I crossed paths of life with. We each had the power to let go of the rope that day.....it would have been absolute death and no one would have known but the survivor. We were strangers in the beginning, on top of that old roof.

For some reason, I trusted him to hold the rope and he trusted me.

Maybe peace begins with trust?