I Went to Mecca and Didn't Know It

A friend of mine felt bad about my lack of climbing partners, and offered to go with me to the indoor facility yesterday. I told him I wanted to stop at Ikea and pick up a few things that I'd seen online. Ok, he readily agreed.

I expected a big box warehouse store like Walmart or Home Depot. Wrong. When we drove up, the first thing I saw was the Ikea sign...It loomed over the highway, signalling us. The closer we got, the more apparent it became that the sign was bigger than my apartment.

Finally, we got to the exit and turned onto the road - "Ikea Road". The store is so freaking big that it has its own road.

When we pulled into the parking lot, the first thought I had when I saw the building was, "Oh crap." Then I thought, "Man, this building would be great for an indoor climbing gym." Three "super" walmarts could've fit in this building.

Inside, we were "guided" by a series of signs up to the second floor where we had to follow the circuitous, winding path leading through various segments...Living rooms...offices...kitchens...bedrooms...bathrooms...All set up to give you an idea of what your homes could look like with various Ikea furniture. It reminded me of the old Disney ride, I forget the name, that took people on a tour of the future.

Geez...I confess, I did buy some items. It was hard to pass up on bargains on incidentials that I needed. I'm not proud of myself for supporting these kind of stores - in the hard times like now, we should be doing all we can to support small businesses. But on the other hand, in these hard times, it's hard for me to muster up motivation to shell out extra dollars that I'd rather save. It might not sound like much - just a few dollars - but it adds up fast.

This little detour sidelined us and took us about 3 hours (darned tour) instead of the expected 20 minutes. Never made it to the gym. Alas.