another way i tried it was like this...
{if $cart ne "" and $active_modules.Product_Options}
<div id="left-bar">
{include file="customer/left_bar.tpl"}
</div>
{/if}
but then the double nav bar shows up on the wishlist page. So how do you say in smarty include this left bar if $cart ne "" but not if you are on the wish list page cart.php?mode=wishlist. ugh.