The We Didn't Buy The OTHER One Tejido

Plottie was cleaning up his studio because S. and L.B. Plotnik are arriving tomorrow. He found a tejido, or wall hanging, stuffed into his closet and had to ask Ducknik what it was.

Oh, yeah, THAT tejido. The We Didn't Buy the Other One tejido.

It's a great travel lesson. Plot and Duck were in Cuzco, Peru, and they kept walking by a shop with the most fascinating and unique tejido in the window. After a few days they walked in and little by little convinced themselves they should own that tejido. After inquiring with the lady behind the counter, they discovered this story:

The beautiful wall hanging was from an artist from Ayacucho, Peru. Ayacucho is up in the mountains, perhaps an eight hour drive from Lima. It is the home of an indigenous weaving tradition, but that drive is a tough, mountainous one so the town is not on the tourist circuit. It was, once -- when the trains still ran.

But Ayacucho was also the home of the Sendero Luminoso, or Shining Path, a band of Maoist guerrillas whose desire was to destroy the Peruvian government. They were vicious dudes, to say the least. One of their shining methods was to dynamite the magnificent, century-old railroad trestles which had connected Ayacucho with the rest of the country. Peru used to have the finest railroad system in South America, but once the tracks were destroyed that was the end of it, and Ayacucho became an outpost few know about.

But artists are still there. This tejido was nothing like Plot or Duck had ever seen. Less traditional, except for its large shape, the design was almost Escher-like. The price was $550.00 US.

Now, if you know The Great Cheapnik, you know he doesn't spend that kind of money on anything when they travel (unless it has strings). But this piece was so beautiful! So they began going back to the store every day or two, wondering if the price might be reduced. The lady wouldn't budge.

When you bargain you have to mean it. Plot offered less. She said no. He offered a little more. She said no again, and again. She wouldn't lower the price one penny. Plottie couldn't allow himself to buy if she wouldn't play along too.

So, in the end, they made their last offer, very close to the original price, and the woman, for the last time, said no. They shook hands and walked out of the store. Plot expected the woman to stop him, when she saw he meant it, and give him his asking price.

But now they were out on the little cobblestoned street, surrounded by those gigantic and incredulous hand-hewn Inca walls. They were leaving the next morning. What to do?

They spied another shop. They walked in. It was a more typical place, full of old rugs and other weavings from around the county. They spotted something. They offered $75 bucks. The man took it, gladly, and wrapped the rug up. When Plot and Duck got home, they unwrapped it.

It's very nice. But it's Not the Other One.

The Tejido that isn't the Other Tejido sat in Plottie's studio closet behind a package of old CDs until yesterday. It's on the back of the sofa now. The lesson:

When you're somewhere you know you'll never go back to, and you find something you love, buy it. If you don't spend the money at that moment, you'll just go home with it and buy toothpaste and car insurance. You won't care about the money but you'll miss the Tejido that Got Away.