Cashmere Cafe

There are so many things about my fellow citizens that annoy me – and since I have been pregnant the list of complaints I have about them is constantly growing…

One of the issues I have about Slovenes is their willingnes to share their (mostly negative) opinion about any matter that they (may) come across. They love to be smart. They love to preach. They love to share their thoughts and believes about the things that they know nothing of (or have just a tiny bit of  (possibly prejudicial) information of). Or haven’t been asked about. OK. I admit – I am generalizing a bit too much here, but I believe that Slovenes are nation with the worst ”express one’s opinion<-> take action” ratio in the whole world.

As we are expecting a new baby very soon we have decided that Tamara is going to get another bed and Seconda is getting the crib.
Our ideas of how our home is supposed to be and work have changed considerably in the last years and we started to put much more effort in decision making about stuff we buy (how is it made, where was it produced, how long will it last, is it ecological, how about sustainability, who profits the most from our purchase choices, is it healthy etc.). After we bought this apartment seven years ago we couldn’t afford to buy any “better” furniture than Ikea (considering the above criteria) – and frankly, for us at that time, Ikea was the best. Our next apartment (or hopefully house) will have very few (if any) items from Ikea.

With our new focus we decided that Tamara is going to get a bed which is made of solid wood and if possible no varnish at all (or at least very little varnish). In my romantic vision I imagined a bed which could be used by my grandchildren, something simple, clean in design, that could be taken easily apart and stored for next use when needed. Since Slovenia is covered by forrests for about 57% of its surface, making it one of the most forested European countries one would assume it shouldn’t be too hard to find a carpenter (and there are many, many, many of those in this country) willing to make a simple toddler bed.
I will not write into detail about Slovenian carpenters, let’s just say that 95% of them don’t reach our criteria (using mostly cheap, formaldehyde filled – plastic covered particle boards as their material of choice) and the 5% which may be worth anything are impossible to locate if you don’t know them personally, by your friends, acquintances or any similar connection.

Since my due date is almost here and there were no carpenters knocking on our door (I admit, I checked some internet sites and asked a couple of friends if they new anybody, didn’t do any extensive research), I decided it was time to activate my social network and started calling friends asking for contacts of potential carpenters. I was appaled by the reaction I was getting, as a number them replied immediately (after I decribed my idea):

“But that doesn’t pay off…”

So they started talking in detail about:

• how Tamara would outgrow the bed very fast,
• how in a couple of years she will not like it and will develop her own taste,
• how it’s stupid to invest in children’s furniture as they break and destroy everyting so quickly,
• how the good carpenters are expensive and reserved for months in advance and you don’t want the bad ones,
• …

I was sooooo tired of these explanatins that I really did not want to hear. All I wanted was a phone / mail / name of a (solid) carpenter. And besides, all the arguments are really lame to me. I believe that by investing my time and energy in buying a good bed for my daughter she will feel my positive attitude (or karma if you will ;)) and will profit from the bed in many more ways than just having a place to sleep. And I will be tuned more with myself and the world (Earth) because I followed my beliefs. And local economy would benefit from my purchase.
These are things that matter to me. 

I believe many efforts pay off in lots of different ways... T brought me this 'boquet' three days ago. Maybe it was because I knit a hat for her? (another thing that doesn't pay off to many Slovenes)

 Unfortunately, we didn’t find a carpenter until today. So, we are making the bed by ourselves. :)