Ep. 218 Riding Along with Kareem Rahma: Creating Keep The Meter Running and More
Saadia 0:03
Hey everyone, it’s Saadia and welcome back to Immigrantly. This is a podcast all about storytelling and cross cultural conversations with so many people from all around the world. I am so glad that you have chosen to spend this time with me and my thoughts. Truly each episode is one of the highlights of my week and I really, really hope the same goes for all of you. In fact, today's episode is going to be a lot of fun because I'm sitting down with the creator of a pretty popular series on TikTok that you may have already scrolled through.
You can take me anywhere you want, and keep the meter running.
Saadia 0:44
If keep the meter running sounds familiar to you? Keep listening. First speaking of TikTok, what the hell is going on with this TikTok ban? I'm sure a lot of you have heard of this by now. Basically, under Data privacy and security concerns the government is thinking of banning TikTok. This means no new users would be able to download TikTok. But if you already have the app on your phone, I honestly don't think the government can force you to remove it. So if you want to get ticked off, you should get it ASAP. And as you can imagine, plenty of people including my kids are not happy about this bad. But the good thing is nothing has been passed through law yet. But especially since we are speaking today with someone on TikTok, I thought I would just share the news with you and keep you up to date and remind you that Immigrantly is also on Tiktok at Immigrantly podcast, but anyway, on to the episode
[Music]
Saadia
So I mentioned keep the meter running. And if you haven't yet seen the series on your TikTok feed, I highly recommend checking it out. You can even find some clips on youtube if TikTok isn't your thing. Basically, this fun innovative series follows one man Kareem Rahma as he catches a taxi in New York City and tells the driver to take him to their favorite place and keep the meter running. Yes, that means the taxi fare continues to add up even as Kareem and the driver of the day go to restaurants, markets or even a helicopter. Yeah. In one episode Kareem flies around the city in a helicopter with a cab driver he meets named Ali. But the episodes when Kareem visits new restaurants are just so entertaining. And in one of the episodes, Kareem goes to one of my favorite restaurants. It's a Pakistani restaurant called Dera in Queens. They have fun, often insightful conversations that make you laugh and restore your faith in humanity at least for a little while. So who is the man behind this great series? The Creator Egyptian American Kareem Rahma wears many hats. He's a comedian, a content creator and entrepreneur and a fellow podcaster. He's popped up on various media a few times. They get commercials for The Real Real, an episode of the Drew Barrymore show, and he even once went viral for dipping his hot dog in his beer at a baseball game. He just strikes me as a really fun person and I'm so excited to have this conversation with him. Also Kareem's new band Kareem’s Away Message will be performing live for the first time ever at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn on April 17, linked to buy tickets are in his bio. Don't forget to check it out. And let's get started.
[Music]
Saadia
Welcome to Immigrantly Kareem, I'm really excited to have you here. And I have a lot of questions, especially about your series, Keep The Meter Running. So how are you doing?
Kareem 4:29
I'm great. How are you?
Saadia 4:31
I'm good. You know, once I had a guest and they said something like when we meet people, we should ask them, “How is their heart today?” And sometimes I remember to ask people that other times I say how are you doing? So I will rephrase and say how is your heart today?
Kareem 4:47
My heart today is excellent. It's beautiful. It's sunny. It's warm. There's really nothing to you know, worry about today.
Saadia 4:57
Right? So I was Looking in the back, and I could see a few things on your wall. So one is Out of Order. And then there's something written in is it Arabic? What is that?
Kareem 5:11
So Out of Order is a poster for a movie that I made that premiered in Tribeca Film Festival in 2023. I wrote it and starred in and produced it. And then the thing written in Arabic is a little plaque that I got in Morocco. It says actor in French, and in Arabic,
Saadia
Talk to me about the movie out of order.
Kareem
I started writing it during the end of the pandemic, it's a time warp. So I have a really hard time figuring out exactly when that was, but at one point, my friend Nico Nicholas Heller, he DMed me and was like, Hey, man, I've always wanted to make a movie, but I don't know how to write one. But I have an idea. And he was like, Would you be interested in doing it, and I literally sat down, and I wrote it in like, a week. And then we had to go back and forth for a while, but it's just a pure comedy. And it was right during the pandemic post quarantine, and just wanted to make like a funny, stupid, meaningless film that could make people laugh. And it's really just about one man's struggle to essentially get to a date that he has with a woman. I guess the emotional undertone is that it's the first date since he got divorced.
So it's very important for him to get to this date, but he has to use the bathroom. And in New York City, if you live here, you know that it's almost impossible to find a public restroom. So the movies just about him trying to get to the date, and also use the bathroom. But everything goes wrong, he loses his wallet, he loses his keys, he gets his clothes stolen. I mean, it's just a crazy film. And we cast a bunch of real New York characters to play themselves in the movie. So it really makes it feel special and unique in the sense that like, my favorite thing about New York is that I feel like I live in a small town, even though it's this huge city. Why is that? Because I've developed a lot of relationships with people, whether it's my neighbors who I make a point to talk to almost every single day, if I see them, like I always stop and talk to them, or the guy across the street that works at the deli, or just people that I follow on Instagram, or Twitter, and I'll DM them and say like, Hey, I love your stuff. Like we should take a walk sometime. And when I do that, it has created this feeling that like when I'm walking somewhere, like I run into people, and I asked how they're doing and I see people running errands, it just makes it feel like I know so many people and not just am like, you know, spying on them via Instagram or something. You know, because there's that version where it's like I've seen that person before. But my goal is to actually know them, at least enough to say hello and have a conversation if I see them on the street.
Saadia 7:54
I like that I really do. Now some people may think New Yorkers are rude and blunt.
Kareem 7:59
I disagree.
Saadia
You disagree?
Kareem
I disagree. I'm sorry. Oh, so I think New Yorkers are the nicest people in the world. In what ways? I think that they maybe they're no bullshit. And maybe they're, you know, not interested in like, being overly nice. But coming from the Midwest, there's an undertone of passive aggression that New Yorkers don't have. Yeah, you know, like, if I'm here, and I'm like, Hey, I'm gonna go swim in Washington Square Park today. Some people are like, well have fun.
Saadia
Right?
Kareem
But if I was like, in Minnesota, they'd be like, why? That's so weird. Why would you do that? You know, there's, there's, there's no judgment. And I also feel like, there are rules that you got to follow in New York.
Saadia 8:43
Tell me about the rules.
Kareem 8:47
Don't walk slow.Don't stand in the middle of the sidewalk. Don't stand in the middle of the stairs on the subway, mind your business to a certain extent. And if you follow those rules, I feel like everyone's nice. Like, there is a sense of community in New York. And obviously, it's not everyone, but if you follow some of the rules of like New Yorkers, you can have a very pleasant experience. Of course there are rude people, but that's also what makes the city special.
Saadia 9:14
No, you're right. New York reminds me of Lahore. So I grew up in Lahore in Pakistan, metropolitan city, very crowded, very busy, but there is a sense of community and people are nice to you. And they may be blunt, and it may come across as rude. But as you said that rudeness is more like, Okay, this is who we are. And I've also lived in Denver in the US, and that's a completely different vibe, because people as he said, They pretend to be really nice. And my husband just did not like Denver because of that, because he couldn't really figure out what people were really thinking. And that can be confusing, right? But Kareem talking about relationships and the kinds of relationships that you have built. Let's talk about keep the meter running. Get your TikTok series, something that I am obsessed with. I've watched a lot of videos on that series. And what I really liked about the series is the sense of community, right? Shared human experiences, restaurant recommendations for us New Yorkers, which is incredible. And then some shared wisdom that cab drivers shared with you. So how did this idea come about? And how did it take off from there?
Kareem 10:27
So there were a couple of moments in my life where I felt indebted to a taxi driver. And some of them were small moments, like in Morocco, or something, this guy is like, hey, go to this restaurant. It's where all the locals eat. It's amazing, you know, small, little gesture of kindness to bigger interactions, where they were more emotional, I was having an awful day or an awful evening. And the taxi driver acted as not only a friend, but also a therapist and a father figure and, like a truth, say, are true seeker and more spiritual way. So just having a lot of different positive interactions with taxi drivers, I don't think I've ever had a negative one kind of was the inspiration for the series, there was a specific night where I really was kind of given amazing advice by a cab driver, I was having an awful night and coming home over the Williamsburg Bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn. And by the time I got to my apartment, I was like, Hey, man, do like want to keep driving around and hanging out. And he's like, Well, I'm gonna have to charge you. And at that point, I was like, Well, I can't really pay for that right now. But thank you so much. [Music] And I remember walking out of the cab, and at that exact moment, I literally wrote down, keep the meter running. And I just put it in my notes, maybe three or four or five years went by. And I was approached by my friend Adam, who asked me if I have any good ideas for a digital web series that I want to create. And that was the first one that came to mind. And we just started making it.
Saadia 12:06
Did you know at the time that people will latch on to it?
Kareem 12:09
No, I had no idea. I was like, really hesitant to actually do it.
Saadia
Why?
Kareem
Because like, do I really want to do another thing? I've done so many things. And there have been so many failures. There's also been a couple of successes. But do I really want to dedicate all this time, all this energy, all this money to making an internet show, which is kind of not my goal at the moment, it was definitely something that I was doing for a long time. But as my career has grown, my ambition has grown. And I was trying to figure out how to get into TV or film essentially make a career where I get paid. I'm not just making videos for free. So there was a moment where I really was on the fence about producing the series or even hosting it or even making it and thank God, I didn't, because yeah, I had no idea that it would resonate with people as deeply and as intensely as it did.
Saadia 13:06
Have there been any surprises along the way, something that you weren't expecting through the series to either discover, or any challenges that you faced?
Kareem 13:16
I mean, the series was never fully developed, like the idea was like, get into a cab and let them take me wherever they want. That's the only idea I had. And in the first episode, with this guy called Abdur Rauf Khan really wanted to go out of wherever you want to go.
Yeah. And I've never been to Dera. Where's Dera? Jackson Heights? Yes, sir. Let's go to Jackson Heights.
Kareem
I remember being in the backseat being like, I don't know if this is working, like this guy only talks about being Muslim. And I don't know if that's like an interesting thing for people. And I also had no idea that he would take me to a restaurant. And what I found is that even in the mundane, there is a lot of, for lack of better words, entertainment. Right? Right. People will want to watch the simplest conversation and if that conversations about what it means to be Muslim to this one guy who's a random taxi driver in New York City, then by all means, people liked it. And then the food the food thing was a big surprise because I never said like, let's do a food show. It was not my plan. [Music] But what I find is that it's the universal kind of thing. Like, you know, there's a saying of breaking bread and getting to know someone over a meal and like that can create friendship. And that's exactly what happens in the show. And so, you know, I find that before the meal, the conversation is a little bit like I'm getting to know someone, but once we sit down and eat, it's like I've been friends with this person for 50 years. Yeah, that was a huge surprise. Both of those things were kind of unplanned for, unexpected but that is what the show became.
Saadia 14:57
So when I was watching that video, For me, right like, it seemed as if you have known or you knew Abdur Rauf Khan for years, and then he took you to Dera, where I go to get Pakistani food. And the interesting thing is he reminded me of every older male in Pakistan, you see walking around on streets, right? He was chastising you about Quran.
What does that mean? You, you should know Egyptian. I know. But I'm bad Egyptian.
Saadia 15:34
And then he was talking to you about other stuff and scolding you in a way which was such an interesting interaction because as a Pakistani, I could connect to him, but I could connect to so many other people that you've hung out with, for instance, Issac right. And his story was so moving.
Kareem: I don't understand what happened to you refuse to pick up a passenger?
Isaac: Yes. She a white lady.
Kareem: Yes, it was when you were tired. I was you wanted to go home in this.
Isaac: And I knew that she was opening the door. She got out. She got in, but later on. But I didn't know she refused to get up. And then she called the police called 911. Instead, I'm harassing her.
Kareem: She said you're harassing her?
Isaac: Yes. And the cop. He asks what's going on? And then this lady was sitting in the car.
Kareem: She was still in the car.
Isaac: Yeah, it can't advise it to call TLC. Because I know she's not gonna go to TLC, they have to arrest me. Yeah, it took me two months to get my license back.
Kareem: Dude, I'm sorry.
Saadia 16:32
Can you talk a little bit about that Kareem? Because that story really spoke to me.
Kareem
Yeah, I mean, I couldn't believe it like is so typical of our society today that somebody would treat someone who's doing actually a very noble service, which is taking you to your destination. And being in the streets all day long meeting so many people, it's very much so a condition of kind of our culture, especially in the States, that you would feel a sense of ownership or an inability to be empathetic to someone who's literally trying to go to sleep, you know, Isaac wants to go home, he has already worked 12 hours. And it was shocking. But on the other hand, it also wasn't shocking, because it's so typical. I will say that also, we've, as a crew, experienced the racism and kind of like lower caste standing, that taxi drivers face oftentimes, while we're shooting.
Like, for example, there was one time and this didn't make the cut into the episode. But there was one time that we were going to an Italian restaurant, like a fancier one. And we wanted to park in the parking garage, and the parking attendants wouldn't let us park in the garage because we were in a taxi. And it was so weird. And I was like, What is going on? They're like, we're gonna call the cops. If you try to park in here. I'm like, Dude, it's a car, let us park the car. He's like, no taxies, there's no sign that says no taxies. Him saying, I'm gonna call the cops. I'm like, What are you talking about? Why would you call the cops like, we're gonna pay you. I'm gonna pay I pay for it. And it's just like, you see how people treat cab drivers sometimes.
[Music]
And not everyone. I mean, I had a ride with a guy named Muhammad. We're doing a special Ramadan episode where he takes me to Iftar. And he says that, you know, 95% of his interactions are positive. And there's just 5% of people who spoil it. And generally speaking, that is what I hear from the guys, but that 5% of bad people have the capability and capacity to essentially ruin someone's day, which is unfair.
Saadia 18:49
Going back to Isaac's story, what I realized is that a lot of times, people who have this hierarchical power dynamic with the rest of the society, they are aware of it, and they will weaponize it and use it to their benefit when as they deem necessary. So this white woman knew her privilege. She was well aware of what calling cops on Isaac would do to him. And yet she did it anyway. Yeah. Right. And that's what I really like about your series, because it is about storytelling and humanizing. And it's funny at times and quirky, but at the same time, it is also unraveling the underbelly of our society, which is so important, Kareem I'm curious to know, why did you choose TikTok as a medium, and I read somewhere that cab drivers were initially reluctant to be part of it. If it weren't going to be a TV series? What is about TikTok that made them be part of it. And why did you choose TikTok?
Kareem 19:54
Well, I think for the cab drivers, a lot of them just have to talk because they sit on there. They're like they take a rest on the taxi stand and they sit in their cars and you know, maybe have tea and they scroll through TikTok, just like everyone else. And sometimes they watch YouTube videos too, like a lot of them say that, you know, that's how they spend some of their off time is watching YouTube videos or TikTok videos. So I think that that was a surprise for me as well. You know, the first time we tried to hail cabs, I was like, it's for a TV show. And people were like, now I'm not interested. But then I say a TikTok, and they're like, oh, cool, what's the channel name, you know, and then they see the videos and they're in. And, you know, for me, there's something special about TikTok, I think of it like a global TV channel, where you can flip through everything that exists in a way that is kind of not possible on other social media platforms. So seeing it as this global TV channel, it was the right place to do the show. And I also just as someone who has worked in media and content for so many years, it's important for me to kind of adopt the platforms that I think are going to be the ones that stay around for a while. And I feel like you know, I post the videos to Instagram, I post them to YouTube, but it's a TikTok show first, and we even shoot the content vertically, like holding the cameras vertically, which is literally not something that people do, they usually shoot it horizontally and then crop it. But yeah, it's just to me TikTok as the most entertaining, most interesting, most diverse set of content that you can possibly tap into.
Saadia 21:36
You talked about Instagram, and I do want to share something with you, as you said, you post your videos on Instagram as well. So a lot of times people that you interview people that you sit with in the cab are immigrants, right? Especially immigrant men. And there's this idea of who an immigrant is in America. America has a love-hate relationship with immigrants. On the one hand, there is this cultural envy of oh, you know, these people are part of other cultures and celebrating their culture. But at the same time, there is so much discrimination against immigrants. I'm an immigrant. I know that right? Although I'm a privileged immigrant, but I still am aware. So I read this comment on one of your videos somebody posted. So this is again, about celebrating culture that you do in videos, and this person says, I have no culture we've been in America for so long, we have no idea where we originated from, as an American, I'm a very bad cook, I can't eat my own food. Is it because America doesn't have its own cuisine? I don't know, I have no culture. I guess I wanted to hear your reaction to this sentiment, cultural envy for people who are often also likely to face discrimination, this dichotomy that we see, how do you see this dichotomy play out in American society?
Kareem 23:00
You know, I don't know, like, it's gonna be a challenging place. You know what I mean? Like, when you talk about Pakistan, everyone's Pakistani, when you talk about Japan, everyone's Japanese, when you talk about Egypt, everyone's Egyptian, there's a set of rules that have been placed by the culture that lives there. And in the States, that's not true. You know, and, of course, there's going to be friction and tension. And some people are going to want to, you know, not do this, and some other people are going to not do that. And some people are going to be afraid, and some people are going to be excited. And it's just the way it is, of course, I wish that everyone could live in harmony and peace. But I think in this great experiment, in this great melting pot, there's gonna be people who are upset about something. I can't speak on behalf of other people, but I would not live anywhere else, I don't think. I think this is, you know, and I'm American, you know, like, that's also what's funny to me is like, I feel culturally American. I've of course, I was born in Cairo. My parents are Egyptian I grew up in an Egyptian household. I look Arab. I have an Arab name. I'm also Arab, you know, but I'm an Arab in America. And [Music] I embrace kind of both parts of those cultures. And I see the juxtaposition as something that is a superpower. Because I'm able to see through multiple lenses all the time, you know, I can see everything in a broader sense of the way. I think it makes life a little easier to be able to see like that, you know, ignorance is bliss, but I'd rather not be ignorant,
Saadia 24:36
Right. So talk to me about your family, as you said, your parents immigrated to the US from Egypt. What was that process like? And I know you were very young when they came here. So you were what three? I don't know how much you remember that. And I also believe your dad was a cab driver, right? Yeah,
Kareem 24:54
My dad was a cab driver for five years. He moved here in 1969 by himself and it’s the, you know, classic pursuit of the American dream. This was a time when there weren't a lot of Arab immigrants. It was kind of the first wave. And he was like, I'm in, I'm going. And so he just came and he came with nothing and no money in his pocket. You know, I think he came on the plane with like two friends. And they decided to settle in Minnesota, because it was the great, you know, it was the Midwest, it was America. It wasn't New York, it wasn't a major city like Cairo. And they wanted that life experience. Yeah, for me growing up. It's funny, because I just recently had the realization that I'm ESL, like, I spoke Arabic before I spoke English. And that like, was deleted from my memory. Until recently, when I was talking to someone and they were like, I'm ESL. And I was like, wait, I'm ESL, too. And I just, like, realized that I was like, that's crazy. Because right now my English is so much better than my Arabic. I barely even speak Arabic. But yeah, I mean, I had a, I'd say like, American childhood, I lived in a suburb, I played baseball, I played basketball, I had a lot of neighbors that were my age, it was safe. And it was fun. And I'd say that, like, once I came to New York, I really, re-tapped into my, you know, brown-ness or, you know, my, my, like otherness, whatever you want to call it more my natural self, I'd say because I didn't really need to whitewash myself anymore. Because New York is the center of the universe. Sorry for everyone that's in LA right now. Or any other city. So yeah, it was a good childhood. And my parents did what they had to do to make it and to give us good lives. And I thank them for that.
Saadia 26:42
So Kareem you've called yourself a bit of a chameleon, right. And as you said, because you knew Arabic before you knew English, and you were a Midwesterner. And now you're a New Yorker, and you've been able to adapt to different environments. And I wonder if it is because of duality of cultural identity that you experienced? I see that with my kids. I see that to some extent with me now, because I've lived in the US for almost two decades, like code switching, right? So the way I am at home, the language that I speak, the vernacular that I use is very different from when I'm talking to somebody outside my house, right? So I speak Urdu at home, I speak Pashto, I could switch and I behave differently when I'm speaking English. So I wonder, do you experience those things? And is it easier to adapt to a different environment? Because all of us in some way, shape or form are navigating multiple identities and cultures?
Kareem 27:40
Yeah, that's it from me, I'm kind of just decided to just be myself, regardless of where I am. I think I'm probably pretty weird to a lot of Egyptian people.
Saadia
In what ways?
Kareem
I don't know, I have an earring, I have some tattoos, I'm Muslim, I don't really care what anyone thinks at all. And, you know, at first I was like, for example, I would like take my earrings out if I was going to some sort of like Arab organization or Muslim event. And then I just decided I'm not going to take them out. And I went to Egypt, and like, my family made fun of me a little bit. But, you know, they're like, whatever, like, that's him. And it's like, I just decided that maybe like subliminally, or without intention, I'm doing these things. But for me, I'm just myself. And I think that is the quality that allows me to open doors or get comfortable with all sorts of different people, because they see that I'm not only am I vulnerable, but I'm just relaxed in my body. I'm not trying to impress anyone. I'm not trying to teach anyone anything. I'm simply on the ride, just like everyone else. And I think that is the most helpful thing like is that of course, I have more references, right? I have more reference points. I think that like you don't have to be embedded into a culture or be born of a culture to have the duality, you simply have to want to have a frame of reference that's larger than whatever you currently have. And that can happen wherever you live. Right, you know, and that is what's happening in the show. Because I'd never eaten West African food in my life. I'd never eaten what was specifically Pakistani food. I've probably like nibbled it by accident or like, had like something that is Pakistani, but I've never been to a Pakistani restaurant. [Music] So now my references my frame of thought is different. Because I'm like, my favorite food is now West African food. I'm like, this is the best food and I didn't know that until six months ago. So I don't know. I think it's just more about being open to the new experiences. It's more about accepting input, accepting these few learnings and being true to those feelings rather than trying?
Saadia 30:05
What do you think is the most important component of being able to do that? A lot of people are very resistant to understanding other people's perspectives or looking at other people's lived experiences and internalizing that so what do you think stops people from engaging in that sort of behavior?
Kareem 30:28
I'd say there's probably fear and ego. I think that's the biggest thing. If you strip away the fear, and then you strip away the ego, I think you just open yourself up, like people have a barrier built around themselves, they put up walls, because they're afraid of being hurt, or they're afraid of being disappointed, or they're afraid of change. But if you accept that all three of those things are inevitable, and they're going to happen, then you kind of can do whatever you want. Because no matter what, you're gonna get hurt, no matter what, you're gonna get disappointed. And no matter what, there's going to be change. So the sooner you accept that, the sooner you're free.
Saadia 31:08
Kareem, talk to me about some of the best restaurants and food that you've discovered through this process. Are there any favorites that you have?
Kareem 31:19
Yeah, my current favorite is Accra, which is a restaurant in the Bronx, and Papaye as well, which is also in the Bronx, those are both Ghanian restaurants. And man oh, man, is that food good. Is that food flavorful is that food filling and warm and special and wonderful. So I'd say that's like right now, my favorite place, I will say Dera is definitely up there as either second or third place at the moment. And then, which is Pakistani food. And then I loved Little Morocco, which is I think, um, Steinway Street and Queens. And it's just a Moroccan restaurant that is very fresh, very clean, very delicious, and unhealthy.
Saadia 32:03
So I can't help myself, but ask you if you have this hypothetical cab and that I sat in and said, Take me to your favorite place and keep the meter running. Where will you take me?
Kareem 32:17
That's a tough, tough question. Does that have to be food? Are we doing food?
Saadia 32:22
Anything.
Kareem 32:25
See, that's so funny, because when I asked the cab drivers that they always have this same reaction where they're like, Man, I don't know. And you're the first person that's asked me that. So now I'm trying to think of like what I love. You know, and I probably, I don't know if it's my favorite place. But in terms of food, I love AbuQir, which is this restaurant in Queens, it's Egyptian. And they make this fish. It's a seafood restaurant, they make this fish that like reminds me of Egypt. And it's like this grilled fish with this, these spices that I've only tasted in Egypt. It's an Egyptian place, for sure. And it's so good and so wonderful in the people are so nice. So I'd probably go there. And then I'd also think about going to Mamoun’s, which is a falafel spot. There's two locations, but it’s the best falafel that I've had outside of Egypt? It's Ta'ameya, which means that the inside is green, yellow. And that's really rare and hard to get. I feel like in New York, so those would probably be my two favorite food spots. And if I were going to do something else, I'd probably just go to Central Park, which I feel like is a place that I love going to but I don't go to enough.
Saadia 33:37
So in the end, I want to do two things. One rapid fire with you, which I don't normally do, but I thought why not? And then my favorite question, which is the define America, which we do in the end, but we start with the rapid fire and I have just six rapid fire questions. Nothing too complicated.
Worst New York City subway line?
Kareem 34:02
The ones that I don't take the ones that I don't know the names of, I don't think I've ever taken B or D. There's like a couple that I've never taken. So those are the worst ones.
Saadia 34:11
Okay. Favorite type of food?
Kareem
Italian. Yeah, that’s surprising.
Saadia
I don't know. I just cannot develop a taste for Italian. I don't know why.
Kareem 34:22
I think it's about the experience. Like for me, an Italian restaurant, just pasta and pizza with a bunch of friends. Like a Saturday night is just *chef’s kiss.*
Saadia 34:33
TikTok or Twitter?
Kareem
TikTok 100%.
Saadia
So going out or staying in?
Kareem
Staying in 100%.
Saadia
Favorite comedian at the moment?
Kareem 34:45
Oo at the moment? At the moment, I'm gonna have to go with my friend Saheeb Singh, who I think is the funniest person on Earth right now.
Saadia 34:56
Best borough in New York City?
Kareem
Brooklyn!
Saadia
I mean, and in the end if you were to describe America in a word or a sentence, how would you do that?
Kareem 35:07
America is the most complicated, yet beautiful place to make a life.
Saadia 35:14
I like that. Thank you so much. This was wonderful. I am so glad we were able to do this. Where can people find Keep The Meter Running?
Kareem 35:23
Yeah, follow Keep The Meter Running on TikTok @keepthemeterrunning. If you want to see the videos on Instagram, you can just follow me @Kareem. And we're also on YouTube at Keep The Meter Running. Wonderful.
Saadia 35:35
Thank you so much.
Kareem 35:36
Thank you for having me. I had a blast. Thank you so much.
Saadia 35:47
I hope all of you enjoyed this conversation. I had a great time listening to Kareem talk about give me the running and his general chill attitude towards life. Loved it. Anyways, it got me thinking, what if you were to take somebody to your favorite place. If you have any thoughts on it. Write to me at info at Immigrantly pod.com. Or if you have some interesting ideas, send me a voice memo. Just sit in a quiet place in a room and record it on your phone and then email it to me. I would love to play it during our conversation. Anyways, this episode was produced by me Saadia Khan, written by Michaela Strauther and me. Our incredible editor is Haziq Ahmed Farid. And if you didn't notice we have new music by Simon Hutchinson. Also please don't forget to follow us on all different social media platforms including TikTok and Immigrantly podcast on Twitter at @Immigrantly_pod and on Instagram at @Immigrantlypod. Until next time, take care.
[Music]