Supporting the Turkish Economy: A Carpet at a Time

The back story:
 
Last year my dear wife accompanied the next-door-neighbors, Colonel and Mrs. Longer, on an Eastern Mediterranean cruise. The ancient city of Ephesus was our next-to-last last port. We had what is probably the typical tourist tour. The tour guide was experienced, fun, and knowledgeable. We enjoyed our tour of the ruins, and I, as is my custom, became lost in the past and surrounded by ghosts. 

After the tour, tour guide returned us to the harbor in which our cruise ship was tied up. But, before we were released, the guide, of course, took us to a carpet facility… a facility that, according to the tour guide, “is world renowned for the quality of its hand-made carpets… carpets of exquisite quality, world class materials, and strict attention to details, carpets made in the old fashioned way, carpets made as they’ve been made by hand for hundreds of years.” Even though my Frances and I had not heard of the carpet company or shop, we didn’t question the claims of world fame.

The tour group were treated to a display of truly beautiful carpets, a demonstration of carpet weaving techniques, and then an invitation to move to a large display room, a room with benches along each wall. We were invited to sit along the wall on the cushioned benches and served a variety of teas and other beverages. 

By now the tour guide had disappeared. The carpet fellow snapped his fingers, and suddenly four of five men came into the room, each with a large, beautiful carpet over his arms. Working together the men spread the carpets on the floor, one on top of the other, allowing the tourists to enjoy the beauty of each piece for only a few minutes. Then repeated the process until the pile of carpets reached to ankle height in the floor.

Well, to make a long story short, my Frances, and I, as were the other couples, were invited by pairs to private carpet showings, “carpets that would fit in your home!” Here, one might say, “only the strong survived.” 

The end result for us was the purchase (“What a deal!”) of a Turkish hand-made carpet of exquisite quality…  a purchase that could not be duplicated again! That’s what they told us!

We returned from the cruise to our Chattanooga home, and the carpet was delivered about a month later. Whether the purchase was a good deal or not, we may never know. We do know that we like the purchase. It’s beautiful, and it fits well with our home decor. 

Okay…   fast forward to last night. 

Telephone rings. My dear Frances answers. She talks for a few minutes, turn to me and asks, would you care if the man who sold us that carpet last year visits us in the morning? He says that he’s delivering some carpets to recent customers, and he just wants to check on our carpet, and make certain we’re pleased with it.

This morning the doorbell rings. It’s the carpet seller, and he arrives in a large Mercedes rental van.

We invite him in. We tell him that, right off, we love the piece we purchased last year, but we are definitely not interested in purchasing another carpet. Nonetheless, we would like to talk with him about the political situation in Turkey. 

I fix some hot, black tea for us, and we talk. The conversation is interesting, and we enjoyed his company. He seems very knowledgeable about Turkey’s recent failed coup, its reasons, and the fallout.

He says the recent coup attempt coupled with the recent terrorist activities on Ankara and Istanbul, especially this week’s suicide bombing at the Kurdish funeral have devastated the county’s tourism industry. He said that normally five to ten cruise ships will be lined along the pier in Istanbul, now the harbor is empty of the ships. He said that this is the tourist season for his carpet shop, and the shop does its business during the tourist season. He said their are no tourists. 

He said the shop is, for all intents, closed…closed until the tourists return. In the meantime, he said, in order to keep the business running, he is visiting former customers in the United States, and he is personally delivering recently ordered carpets.

He was about ready to leave. We stood up and were walking toward the front door, when my wife asked innocently, “But you do have some carpets in your truck that are not sold.” 

The Turkish Carpet Seller’s eyes brightened, and he said, “Oh my yes, would you care to see some? Let’s look at the spaces you might place one of my exquisite hand-made carpets, carpets make by little Turkish housewives, sitting in their homes at the looms, toiling away as have their mothers, grandmothers, and great grandmother!”

After another hour or so, the carpet seller drove away in the Mercedes truck, truck’s load three carpets lighter—my wallet significantly lighter too.

But, the carpets are beautiful…  and we did help the Turkish economy with our support of the little Turkish carpet shop.  Please don’t suggest otherwise, and I’ll be your friend for life.


Keep smilin’