Faleh Elnasser brought his wife and two children south a couple of years ago to escape the crime and the overcrowding and the hectic pace of everyday life in New York City.
"We wanted something better for the children," explains his wife, Sally Elnasser. "In New York, people will pass right by you on the street and won't even talk to you. Here, people will say hello even if they don't know you."
The family stayed in Memphis for almost a year while they explored their options.
Elnasser had retail experience in everything from supermarkets to department stores. He felt sure he could make a go of a small store that offered a line of items for the home. Nothing too expensive. Just household items, hair and beauty products, cleaning supplies, toys, baby items, and the like.
Friends suggested that Mississippi would be a good place for such an enterprise. So, Elnasser and his cousin headed south on Highway 61 for Greenville to open what they hoped would become the next Wal-Mart.
When they came to where U.S. 49 splits off from 61, Elnasser and his cousin headed south on 49 - blissfully unaware they were now headed for Greenwood, not Greenville.
"We didn't know there was any difference," Elnasser says sheepishly. "We saw the sign saying 'south to Greensomething' and thought we were supposed to turn."
After realizing their mistake, the two men pondered what to do next. Devout Muslims, they decided to pray.
Sally Elnasser smiles as she recalls, "When they got to Greenwood, they decided the Lord must have sent them here for a reason. So, good or bad, they decided to open the store here instead of Greenville."
Thus was born Jordan Dollar Plus, located on Market Street between Main and Howard streets. The name is a nod to the Elnassers' native country of Jordan.
The Elnassers opened for business in August. And while they have felt the effects of the recent economic slowdown just as other area businesses have, their clientele has steadily grown.
That growth is no doubt due, in part, to the Elnassers' admirable work ethic: the store remains open to serve its customers seven days a week.
The store is clean, well stocked and the merchandise attractively displayed. "I am a professional," Elnasser says with obvious pride.
Elnasser may have wound up in the wrong town when he came to Greenwood, but there's one thing about which he has absolutely no doubt: he's in the right country.
"You can't compare this country with any other country in the world," he declares. "This is the best country anywhere. It's easier to do business here than in any other country in the world. It's more organized. Here everything is easier."
The Elnassers were married in 1990, although both have lived in the United States much longer - he for 15 years and she for 29.
They have acclimated well to their adopted homeland. Sally Elnasser even speaks with the speed and clipped tones of a native New Yorker, although she observes that her children - Alla, 7, and Mahmoud, 6 - already are developing a pronounced Southern drawl.
At the mention of her children, Mama dutifully brings out a newspaper clipping confirming that Alla is a member in good standing of the Bankston Elementary honor roll. "She's doing really well," she says.
Then, throwing up her hands in mock exasperation, she adds, "But that boy! Him we'll have to wait and see about."
As Muslims, the Elnassers have had to make a number of adjustments living in the United States. Muslims do not, for example, eat pork.
Their faith requires that they pray five times a day, which they accomplish by retiring to the back of the store.
Sally Elnasser wears a traditional hijab, a shawl-like cloth that covers the head and shoulders of Muslim women. It readily sets her apart wherever she goes in Greenwood. And while she sometimes attracts stares in the course of running the family errands, she insists most people in Greenwood have been friendly.
Once, after dropping the children off at school, she had car trouble and had to pull over to the side of the road. She still marvels that three different people stopped to offer help that day.
Perhaps, too, she thinks of what might have happened had the same situation occurred in New York City.
Since moving to Greenwood, the Elnassers have observed a number of puzzling practices among their fellow residents.
"One thing we see that is really strange," Elnasser confides, "is some people, they walk without shoes. …"
He reflects on this American idiosyncrasy a moment, then adds, "Wherever you go, people, they are human beings. Sometimes they have things that are a little different, but still they are human beings."
Spoken like a true American.
