ikea insanity

i don't know about you, but super-stores freak me out. maybe it's attributable to being in third world countries; maybe it's my scrupulous eye for details, but i get overload of stimuli- like my eye doesn't know where to look first. on the oh-so infrequent drives to the east bay, i pass it, a blue and yellow behemoth of a swedish department store. it almost feels like it's jeering at me, aware that one day, i too will fall prey to its capricious lure.

and that day fell on a saturday. saturday, february 12th to be precise.

at work, we are in the process of totally revamping our tradeshow booth and we needed some stools. the pair we saw and liked was displayed in our graphic design/construction company's showroom. they explained they were from ikea. $25 each. and that's when it hit me- i would be the designated driver for this minor expedition.

so saturday morning rolls around and my new housemate natalie and i set out early at the behest of my friend kenny's advice to hit ikea early enough so as to make sure they would have what i was looking for. the converse scenario freaked me out enough that i woke up earlier than usual- foregoing sleeping in for actually being able to purchase the much needed stools.

we arrived and followed the very specific signs, denoting where to go if you have rented a van or just need to park a of the run of the mill honda, already bracing me that i was entering into a new world- the disney world of furniture.

the ikea designers have thought of it all. oh, they're good alright. the path forged through the store to actually get to the checkout line forces you, almost guides you as if on a treadmill road through each department. i could almost hear the tune "it's a small world afterall..."

but in the end, it wasn't as bad as i thought. i bought the two stools and a toolkit for emergencies and went on my merry way out of the cheap furniture wonderland... it's a small world afterall.