I expected the worst and came out pleasantly suprised

This evening could have been a disaster. We almost didn't go, and I was bracing myself for the worst, most tiring, frustrating, and physically uncomfortable night ever.
We went to buy a closet.
We've been wanting to put a closet in the future baby's room for some time now. Our experience with buying furniture in Israel has included Shuk Hapishpushim, Ikea, Ramat Gan furniture area, internet shopping, Beitili, the Modiin list, and an adorable little mom-and-pop store where we bought Eden's bed a few years ago. Most of it has been: hot, exsausting, expensive and/or low quality, and we didn't want to do any of that again.
I expected our trip to the Rishon Letzion "Israel Furniture Center" (Mercaz Rihutim HaYisraeli) to be much the same. Especially when we were taking Eden (in the car, which she doesn't especially like), after gan, at exactly dinner, bath, and bed time. I was already hot, swollen and uncomfortable, I didn't expect it to get much better.
But what a suprise. I didn't know this place existed, and no more are we going anywhere else for any other piece of furniture. It's a huge indoor souk of furniture - couches, tables, chairs, lounges, closets, bedroom sets, you name it. It's spread out over this huge area, each store owner having a nebulous corner to call his own, or sprawling all of his goods over a whole section. You could get lost. There is no map, no organization. The bathroom stall had neither toilet paper nor a working lock, and was up 2 flights of steep steps. It was not air conditioned. In short, it could have been horrible.
But it wasn't - it was one of the most interesting and enjoyable experiances I remember having in Israel.
We wandered around for a short while before what we wanted caught our eye. We had no recommendations to go on, but decided to ask about it anyway. The guy's name is Tony (yes he's Israeli!) and was friendly, patient, and helpful. It wasn't crowded and we were his only customer at the time, and he was able to give us his undivided attention.
I let Eden roam, check out the different couches and beds, while we decided on what we wanted. There wern't that many people in the area at all, and the neighboring shop owner came to give us advise and explain about the different wood types, and what was better (they don't compete - the other guy sells living room furniture only). Of course, we got to talking, playing some Jewish geography. He lived in Monsey for years. His 20 year old son, Danny, lives in Livingston, NJ with his mom, but is here visiting for the summer, and was there also. Eden got a bit bored with the couches, so Danny sat down with her and taught her to play chess. I haven't heard such a thick NJ accent in years. You'd almost think it was fake. Eden was delighted to make a friend and I think she knows that he let her win.
Maybe the two shop owners - Tony and the guy next door - make it a habit of recommending eachother. He made it a point to tell me that Tony did quality work, and that we were getting something well worth our money. And that he wasn't going to overcharge us - he would make the shekels stretch. I told him what a good kid Danny seemed to be, how much he clearly loved kids.
So we will see. Our closet arrives within 14 days. Its got tall hanging on the left, with 2 shelves above, and 4 drawers and shelves on the right. Tony said that if we ever wanted to add onto it in the future, it would not be a problem to add on from the same style, so I felt confident about buying only what we need now, and not worrying about later.
Maybe I'm wrong - I've been a bad judge of character before - but it seems to me that these people are the real thing. It doesn't seem that Tony's out to cheat us (we did no haggling), it does seem that he wants to be able to satisfy his customers. Until we actually have it built, I won't really recommend him, but I will say that he gave a mighty good impression. And I'm quite the cynic, not easy to impress, and salespeople usually have an especially difficult time.
On the way home, we kept the windows open and Eden loved that we went fast on the highway. The entire evening could have been much much much worse. We were out for almost 3 hours. But it really wasn't; it was enjoyable and we'll also have a new closet in about 2 weeks!

Hooray! I can start nesting!