Ikea [Adventure]

[Adventure 23]

It all started when a friend asked a favor. 

That seems to be how most things start these days, but I digress...

They needed someone with a big vehicle to pick up a piece of furniture from Ikea. That would be me, with my fifteen passenger van. 

Since I was going to Ikea, I asked a friend and fellow Ikea fan if she needed anything from there. She said yes and sent me a list. I also decided I needed things and made my own list. 

The day we were supposed to pick up the thing, the thing wasn't ready to be picked up. The next day it was discovered that the thing wasn't available at all. So we decided to just go to Ikea and look at all the things and choose one.

Finally, we were off to Ikea to find a suitable thing and then go on a scavenger hunt for the rest. 

As we made our way through the labyrinth, we stopped every once in a while to check our interesting or useful or unusual items, as is customary when Ikea shopping. We took photos of the tags of items we liked so that we would make decisions along the way - and know where to get them at the end. 

We found a treasure trove of things, checked them all out, and continued along the path, only to discover ourselves at the end of the road. Making our way back a short way, we looked over the things once again and chose one. 

Then it was time for the real work to begin. We had a list of things and no idea where to find most of them. We must have spent ten minutes searching for a plant that didn't exist. We managed to find the one and only chair cover of its kind left in the store. We squished a bunch of pillows until we found one suitable for our needs. Somehow a super soft throw made its way into our cart, along with a couple power strips and some rainbow bags. And an umbrella. 

Waiting in line for what seemed forever, I felt badly for the one "information" person on staff. It was apparent from the demeanors of the patrons ahead of us that they were doing their job well. They were nothing but kind and patient (and all smiles, I'm sure, behind their mask) when it was my turn. They made sure the thing was in stock, printed off a paper with its location and pointed us in the right direction. 

Purchases paid for, the young adults took on the task of fitting everything into the van while I grabbed some items from the food marketplace and checked out with those. Finally it was time to proceed home, eat good food, and play Dungeons and Dragons.

As I drove, I thought how not unlike D&D a trip to Ikea is - adventures unknown; undiscovered treasures; unexpected twists, turns, and hurdles; decisions to be made; problems to be solved on the spot; lots of searching; and you usually end up with something different than you expected, but usually good, nonetheless. At least we didn't have to roll for initiative over the last chair cover...