In Defense Of The Pygmy Lamb

I have told this story many times before and it has recently been requested that I add it here. I hope it works in writing as well as it does when it is acted out.

Two years ago, I got to travel to Thailand for work. While there, my colleague and I went to the night market, like any market around the world the stalls are small (about 15 square feet) and everything is up for negotiations. I was looking for a pashmina for my mother, and honestly was planning on spending about $10 to $15 USD. If you are unfamiliar with pashminas, they are the wool wraps that women wear to keep themselves warm.

 

My colleague and I walk into one of many stalls, and began comparing the pashminas. The stall owner comes over and asks if he can help… we quickly say, “no, we are just looking.” He walks away, but comes back a few minutes later. This time he asks, “are you shopping for yourself or someone else?” I reply, “I’m shopping for my mother.” He asks, “Does she have a favorite color?” I say, “she has hazel eyes, so I try to buy greens to make her eyes pop.” He then says, “Is it a special occasion?” I said, “It would be a gift for her birthday.” Finally he asks, “Is there anything that matters to you when you buy a gift?” I replied that for me I wanted to buy a gift that I could feel good about. I wanted to know that it didn’t come from the sweatshop down the street.

He proceeds to go to the back and pull out a stunning green pashmina. He drapes this lusciously soft wrap over me. He takes it and wads it up in a ball and then waves it open to show that there are no wrinkles. I am pretty impressed already… and honestly, I’m petting it because it is so soft.

He says, “Okay, now to what is important to you. I want you to feel good about what you are purchasing. This special pashmina comes from mountains in Pakistan that are at 16,000-foot elevation.

“At 16,000-feet there are pygmy lambs that live there. But, don’t worry they are not harmed in the gathering of the wool. These small lambs eat the shrubs up there and the fur from around their eyes and cheeks gets caught in the shrubs. The community goes around and collects the wool from the shrubs. As a community they spin the wool, dye the wool, and make the pashminas. The whole community makes these together, and profit as a community. They bring it down to Islamabad where I buy them and bring them here to sell to you.”

I bought two, one for her and one for me, at $75 USD each!

Now I have no idea if there are pygmy lambs in the world – don’t tell me, I don’t want to know. I also have no idea if there are 16,000-foot mountains in Pakistan, don’t want to know that either.

But I will tell you this, every time I wear the pashmina, and someone compliments me on it, I tell him or her the story of the pygmy lambs and know that I have gotten my $75 worth.