On Saturday morning, Mike and I were off to an early start to drive to Atlanta for our last "hoorah" before Lil' Shaffa's arrival. Unfortunately it didn't go as planned.
The first part of the day went well, although we stopped about four times for restroom breaks on the way down. Luckily Mike is very patient with me. We arrived at IKEA on schedule, and began the shopping experience as usual with a trip to the cafeteria. We thought it was our lucky day when we saw coupons offering a "free lunch" for spending one hundred dollars. This day was starting off well. We strolled through with our list, a pencil and the handy tape measure they provide. We found everything we needed along with a few extra things for Lil' Shaffa and the house. At four o'clock we were finished and at the end where we were to pick up our furniture. We went to the bin where our dresser was located and the bin was empty. I looked up and thought I could see more dressers on the shelves above about thirty feet in the air. I was heartbroken! I knew there was no way they would be able to retrieve the dresser while it was full of customers. However, I did not give up.
I attribute my of "finagling" skills to my mother who has always had the ability to work out situations where everyone is happy and gets what they want. I only wish there was a more positive connotation for the word, "finagle". The first IKEA employee told me that it would be the next week before I could get my furniture. He said they were sold out and I would have to wait for another shipment to arrive. I wasn't getting anywhere with him, so I moved on to another employee. This guy told me that we could come back in the morning when the store opened and pick up the furniture since it would have to be lowered by the overnight stockers. At least he confirmed that they were on an upper shelf, however we had to be back in Nashville by 1:00 pm on Sunday for our first Birthing Class. I did not want to miss this first class, but there had to be a way to get this dresser! In the meantime, Mike had checked for the crib and it too was up on a shelf thirty feet in the air.
Mike and I finally approached Xavier who worked at IKEA and he lead us to the answer we were desiring. We explained to Xavier that we had driven all the way from Nashville, and that it was our last trip before our baby was to be born and we were there to get furniture for the nursery. We finally found compassionate ears to help us with our dilemma. Xavier told us that we could arrange an "Emergency Furniture Pick-Up", but that we would have to return just before the store closed that evening, pay for the furniture and wait outside until every last customer had left. The stockers would have to pull the furniture down with a forklift and bring it outside for us. That was not the most ideal answer, but it was the best yet, and we were accepting it. Our persistence paid off! It did however, ruin our plans for a nice romantic dinner and relaxing evening.
When we returned that evening, we decided to have dinner at IKEA which meant another free meal for us. I was, to say the least, satisfied that we were getting two free meals out of this escapade. We went through the emergency furniture pick-up procedure and by the time we were finished and back at the hotel it was 11:00 pm. We crashed.
On Sunday morning, we were up and ready early to start our journey back to Nashville. When the valet brought our car to us, we noticed the "malfunction" light was on and the car was sputtering down the street. We had no choice but to return to the hotel and have the concierge direct us to an auto mechanic about two miles away that luckily was open on Sunday. We arrived, they looked at our car and said it would take about three hours to fix. Finally, about five hours later, our car was ready, but we didn't get out of there without paying a pretty penny to the mechanics. We were at their mercy, what could we do?
So, by 4:30 that afternoon, we finally arrived back in Nashville just in time to miss our first birthing class in its entirety. We were pretty devastated, but very glad to be home. It was not at all the trip we planned and hoped for, but it at least was memorable and we arrived home with all of the baby furniture we had gone after.
On Sunday morning, we were up and ready early to start our journey back to Nashville. When the valet brought our car to us, we noticed the "malfunction" light was on and the car was sputtering down the street. We had no choice but to return to the hotel and have the concierge direct us to an auto mechanic about two miles away that luckily was open on Sunday. We arrived, they looked at our car and said it would take about three hours to fix. Finally, about five hours later, our car was ready, but we didn't get out of there without paying a pretty penny to the mechanics. We were at their mercy, what could we do?
So, by 4:30 that afternoon, we finally arrived back in Nashville just in time to miss our first birthing class in its entirety. We were pretty devastated, but very glad to be home. It was not at all the trip we planned and hoped for, but it at least was memorable and we arrived home with all of the baby furniture we had gone after.
