A Swedish Genius

I just went to IKEA for the first time in my life today. Whoever invented this idea for a store is a total genius. I'm sure you all know this since I was probably the last American who had never been there, but it bears repeating. One of the many genius ideas is the endless accessorizing you can make people do at these stores. Oh you want a coffee table? Sure, we've got about 15 options, which is quite a lot. Oh, but how 'bout these 10 other kinds of little extra tables, only 20 bucks! Then, you can put this stupid wicker basket on top to hold your TV remote - only 7 more bucks! Genius. I showed up at about 11am and the place was already crawling with other denizens of the greater Oakland area, all asking themselves, "Am I a birch wood person? Or does beech wood more fully express my identity?" The other great idea is to have everyone be his own stockboy. I don't know what they do when older folks want the 300 pound table shoved in a box 10 feet up in the air, but for (mostly) able-bodied individuals such as myself, it worked out ok. My purchases fit readily into my beloved Civic, and the handy uber-carts provided by IKEA helped me get things out to the parking lot. Going from the Civic to my apartment was another matter. Luckily, I live directly adjacent to a Safeway, and many of my neighbors think that the Safeway shopping carts are there for them to take all the way up to the door of their apartments. While I find this incredibly lazy, it worked out well for me in this instance, since I could put my boxes on the cart, drive the cart up to my door, unload, and return the cart to its previous location. (I might take the cart all the way back to Safeway later this evening...maybe). So, kudos to you IKEA. And if I successfully put together this crap sitting in my living room, I'll be even happier.