We Really Are Not Stupid

We bought a dining set from Jeff Bridges.

Stupidity sometimes comes from people who are not stupid. I hope.

Last night I stopped on the way home from work and picked up a dining table and chairs we bought with the proceeds from the sale of our Missouri home. When I got home, I brought in the chairs. Shannon, anxious to get something other than a card table set up in the breakfast nook (is 'nook' still the right word?), tore into the boxes as I watched after and played with Ben. That always pushes any workday stress out of my mind. Sometimes it introduces other stress, but a much better kind. Eustress. I stress. We all stress for... nevermind.

So, as I'm making Ben's supper, Shannon announces that there are no back legs for the chairs. Hmm... have you opened all the boxes? She unwraps and pulls out all the other pieces. No back legs. Okay. Let's call them. 'They' in this case are the folks at The Room Store, in Plano. Our salesperson's name is Jeff Bridges.

At this point Shannon is getting angry, because so many people have put forth incompetent efforts during our move -- people who supposedly are professionals at what they do. I walk over and look at the parts she has unwrapped. Hmm... nope, no back legs. Okay, I'll call them. It's after 7 p.m. at this point, so I'm doubtful we get any good help.

The receptionist quickly discerns that she is not familiar enough with the furniture itself to help. A man gets on the phone asks me to look at the chair backs. I look. "The chair backs are the legs; they extend all the way down in one piece." he says. What the guy might have wanted to say: "Do you still have the boxes they came in? If so, then pack them up and bring them back, because you're too stupid to own our furniture."

The guy was very polite about it and didn't even laugh at me after I laughed at myself. All the parts (made in Malaysia) were there, with a few extra nuts and screws for good measure. Dumbfounded by our collective stupidity, we assembled the chairs and the table and it all fit great in our space. My only excuse, and one I'm not ashamed to admit, is that was my first dining furniture with 'some assembly required.' So, although the box said 'Made in Malaysia,' I know that is not entirely true.