[Dottore]

Getting into carpets is as bad as crack. Really hard to stop.

Years ago I took a week off work and accompanied a carpet shop owner from Singapore on a buying trip to Dubai and Oman. He was buying carpets from Persian refugees. Because of the complete worthlessness of the Iranian currency abroad, refugees from Iran frequently converted their entire net worth into the finest carpets they could buy, and then left the country with these carpets and sold the in the Gulf states for hard currency.

What an amazing week that was—spent in carpet bazaars, haggling with refugees over truly exceptional pieces.

I almost packed in a fine career at that point to become a carpet merchant.