We initially thought we could manage to push our behemoth of a sofa up eight flights on our own - luckily, a super nice guy spotted us at the beginning of the job and offered to help. After we admitted we had eight floors to go, I was sure he would bail - but instead he ran to his own apartment, returned with bottled water for all of us, and kept on trucking.
By the 4th floor, the guys were sweating, I was cheerleading (I had quickly realized the futility of my own efforts to help), and we ran into another stranger who offered to pitch in. Finally we reached our floor, thinking victory had been achieved, but now the sofa would not fit through our doorway! The guys did not give up on us, and stuck around until they came up with a way to get the sofa in. All we had to offer in thanks was a round of beers, but it turned out that our massive sofa was a uniter in the end, not a divider, and we made some new friends.
Neither of these guys hesitated for a second in offering their help, and it reminded me of a scenario on our second day in town that really struck me: while walking through downtown, a delivery man on the street approached Ben and asked for a hand in lifting his load up onto the sidewalk. It seems like a small thing, but I was struck by the naturalness of it - not for a second did this stranger think that his request for help would be refused, nor did he feel awkward or apologetic about asking for assistance. Our relocation coordinator told us that she thought we would notice a difference in the sense of community here versus the U.S. There is a much stronger feeling of operating as a whole rather than lots of individuals, and it's quite nice.
On that note, here is a look at what we really accomplished after all that work - a new doggie bed for Bosco :-/
1 comment:
That's a great story! I seriously hope you are going to lodge a complaint with IKEA. That is ridiculous the way the delivery men treated you. Boo IKEA! Jenn, I know you'll be on the case.
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