Some years ago, my good friend Barbara got me started on quilting. She makes very beautiful quilts in large quantities, and I did my best to talk her into giving one to me. No such luck, but she did teach me the basic principles of quilting and presented me with enough material for several quilts. I have enjoyed quilting ever since, even though I do not produce master pieces. Most of the quilting necessities I must bring from abroad, as cotton thread and materials, quilting needles, magazines, etc., etc., are not available in Iran.

One day I had run out of cotton thread and even though I knew better, I went to the Tajrish bazar in Northern Tehran to see if I could find any. Of course not. In the last shop I tried, I explained to the shop owner what I needed and hallelujah, he had cotton thread. But when I picked up the spool he had put in front of me, I saw that the label mentioned “100% polyester”. So that’s what I told him. His firm answer was “No, there’s cotton in it also”.

This time I decided not to argue but I couldn’t help laughing. That was the wrong thing to do as his verbal abuse was worse than it would have been if we had argued.

Therefore ladies, when shopping in Iran, remember that the shop owner is king.