CLOTHES DEVIL

Top photo:
Charlie, Denny (nicknamed Obama) & Peter in their Balinese uniform
Bottom: Peter and Charlie in their new duds

After moving into Villa Kubu Merta in February 2009, I bought three sets of Balinese-style uniforms for our staff to wear. Each set consisted of an udeng (headdress), sarong, saput (decorative cloth over the sarong, and dress shirt with their names embroidered on it. After wearing them every day for eight months, it's time to get them a new threads. On a shopping trip to Denpasar I happen to find good quality Polo shirts on sale and buy them figuring they'll be more practical than dress shirts. I would wait for my next trip to town to find the boys sarongs to match.

Peter who works in the garden thanks me for his new, more relaxed shirts. But Charlie, flamboyant Charlie, clothes horse Charlie, goes nuts. Really? For some ordinary T-shirts?
He's bursting with an idea.
"Ibu," he grins, "I see staff in Kuta with shirt like dis. And cowboy hat."
"That's nice," I say, "Did they wear boots too?"
"No, Ibu, sock. And jean with big belt." He looks at me with mischievous eyes.
Oh-oh, I know where this is going.
"No, Charlie, we're in Ubud, not Kuta, and this is a villa, not a night club. Our guests want to see staff in Balinese clothes."
Charlie is undeterred. "They staff in villa." he says.

Two days later he shows up, smiling broadly, with two packages. He went shopping and bought two pairs of dress-up jeans, white socks and two "cowboy hats," every piece beautifully color-coordinated with his new Polo shirts.
"If Ibu like, Ibu pay. If Ibu no like, I pay." he says.
I can see how much he loves these clothes. I don't have the heart to refuse him.
"Okay," I tell him, "I will pay. Get a set for Peter too and you can wear these on Fridays."
That was two weeks ago and now I can't get them to wear their Balinese uniform any more.