Rug Flop

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This is just a break from sightseeing. Jason's job involves supporting US Navy submarine activities in the Persian Gulf. There has been a submarine and a tender in port for the last few days. Jason and Dan organize what they call a "Rug Flop" to give the visiting sailors a chance to by an oriental rug. Jason has become friends with a local rug merchant named Abdul Wahed Abdulla. It turns out that if you want to buy an oriental rug, Bahrain is the place to do it and many visitors know this and want to buy one. The Rug Flop is a combination social event and rug sale. The idea is that the party saves the sailors from having to shop from store to store and haggle for price. There is catered Arabian food and plenty of beer. Abdul brings dozens of rugs and lays them out on the floor one at a time and explains the type, design country of origin, etc. Then when he has a large pile on the floor, he starts taking them off the top and offering them for sale. If you are interested, you can take it aside and examine to your hearts content. This night seemed to be very successful. Some of the sailors bought multiple rugs. So, it was a very interesting and fun evening.

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