My friends in Iran.

I don't recall their names, but it was during the reign of the Shah. My companion and I went south from Tehran to visit the then-being-restored-to-bring-greater-glory-to-the-Shah ruins at Persepolis - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persepolis . While in Isfahan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isfahan_(city) a couple who spoke English invited us to join them for a meal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isfahan_(city) . I don't remember much of the discussion, just nice people. I do remember that they did advise us to not venture out into Masshad while en route eastward because the fundies were very much in charge and didn't welcome foreigners. Just nice people, with no interest beyond welcoming strangers and, maybe, building bridges or simple curiosity or practicing English or learning how we saw the world. Just simple hospitality is my best guess.

This display of hospitality was something I encountered in many places in my travels, so it was not a particularly notable event, just another affirmation of the commonsense view that we the people generally want to be friends and helpful to one another. Of course criminals and psychopaths who are driven by greed and the lust for power don't fit into that general view of things, but at the time those were rare and fairly easily recognized.

The point? Well, it is rather simple and obvious to most, I trust. We, the commoners, are family. There is far more in common between me, and you who never met them, and this family, and the tribals who shared their rotgut in Rajasthan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajasthan , than between us and those lords and masters who rule our respective nations.

The links are included to give those who have not had to good fortune to travel to those spots a starting point to learn a bit about them.

Sorry for the duplicated link to the wiki on Isfahan.