My friend and neighbor Ginny had recently moved into a new
condo and was in the market for an area rug for her living room. A friend had
directed her to a small rug store in Cambridge, MA named Yaya Tribal Rugs owned and operated by a
Tibetan monk. She arrived at the store early one Saturday morning and began
browsing through the store while another customer was at the register. After a few minutes, the man came from behind
the register to greet her. She had
just begun to describe the type and size of rug that she was seeking when the
man raised his hand in a halting motion, smiled, and said, “I am sorry
ma’am. We don’t have your
rug.” Ginny thought there must be
some sort of confusion between her and some other customer who had been in the
store looking for a rug. Ginny
started to speak but again, the man raised his hand and repeated, “I am sorry
ma’am. We don’t have your rug.” He
continued, “Please write your phone number on this piece of paper and we will
call you when your rug arrives.” Again Ginny tried to respond but again, he
repeated what he had just said and ushered her kindly out of the store.
Ginny was a bit puzzled by the experience and thought about
what had transpired as she drove home.
Her life soon became crazy busy with a big project at work and the experience
at the carpet store began to fade from her memory.
About six weeks later, early on a Saturday morning, the
phone rang and it was the man from the carpet store. “We have your rug”, the
voice on the phone explained, “please come and pick it up at your
convenience.” Still puzzled, Ginny
made the trip to the rug store and met the man she had seen on her previous
trip. “Here is your rug”, the man told her pointing to a rug lying on the top
of a pile. That is my rug Ginny
thought as she admired it. The size was perfect and she loved the colors and design. “How much is it?”, Ginny
asked. “You must take the rug home and give yourself some time to decide if it
is really your rug. You will pay for the rug when you decide”, the man said. The man rolled up the rug and loaded it on top of her car.
Two weeks later she returned to the store to pay for the
rug. It was her rug.
