Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Shop Local

Okay, first off, evidently Blogger has STILL not resolved its little paragraph problem. I'm currently trying to work around the problem in Html, which is iffy at best, so bear with me, please.


So! I was out shopping last weekend and picked up a pretty little throw rug at a junk store. It was kind of dingy, so I threw it in the washing machine, and wow! It really cleaned up nice. It was a vivid red color with a pattern of some kind of turkish-looking buildings on it.


A little Googling revealed that it's an Islamic prayer rug. Gee! I thought. I'd really like some more of these - they're really pretty. Of course, I could always shop on line, but I thought I might see if I could find some around here, first. Shop local, and all that.


Hmmm, I thought. Where would I find prayer rugs? I thought about the local religious book store, but they skew exclusively Christian; really more born-again, evangelical Christian, so that was out. And I was pretty sure that the Catholic shop wouldn't have any prayer rugs. I know! I thought. I'll try the local Asian grocery store.


Because ..... Asians are from another country, and so therefore ... they're probably Muslims?


Holy SHIT I'm not too bright, am I? Granted, I have lived a pretty freaking sheltered life, but still ... Asians aren't me, so therefore they're probably Islamic?


*cough*


Hey, at least I ADMIT my stupidity. And here's where I admit that I DID go to the Asian grocery store ... just in case?


Hoo boy.


No, the Asian grocery store did not have prayer rugs. But it DID have a clerk who gave me the old stink-eye, no doubt intuiting that this blond-haired white lady was there to get some kind of a cultural diversity fix, and let me tell you, that dude was NONE TOO PLEASED to have me in his shop.


So! I have come to the conclusion that I need to find a ... Muslim shop? A shop that sells Islamic religious items?


I think I'm in over my head, here. Any advice?

6 comments:

~~Silk said...

I've bought a few at very good price from military people returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

If you know anyone, or the family of anyone, serving there, you could ask them to pick one up for you. Even with the shipping, they'd be remarkably inexpensive.

Do NOT buy from eBay. They're overpriced and often not authentic.

Anonymous said...

I'm thinking, okay, if I were Muslim, where would I go when I needed a prayer rug? A mosque? What about a store that sells Oriental/Persian rugs? Maybe somewhere in Ithaca where they're more likely to carry culturally diverse items?

~~Silk said...

Oops - my suggestion isn't shopping locally, but it does help support the troops when they add a little "finder's fee".

the queen said...

Look in the yellow pages fopr mosques in your area. then drive past looking in windows. Also try Pakistani groceries. I am ignormant too, and I shouldn't be.

Heather said...

I have no clue or suggestions, sorry.

Neat though that you was lucky in your thrifty find!

rockygrace said...

Thanks for the suggestions, guys! Update to come ...