spook and I decided that a nice thing to do today would be to go to Ikea and wander around, look at their displays, eat some meatballs. (I will confess that the meatball thing was more my motivation than his.) We've got a move coming up in the spring, and I thought that maybe it would be fun to look at their room displays, their unbelievably well-laid-out and tiny apartments full of Ikea goodness. I'm still tired a lot (okay, all) of the time, and this seemed like it would get us out of the house without being too strenuous. The basic soundness of this plan lasted until I stepped out of the car, and my knee went -enh-.
"Ow." I said. Then, more emphatically, "Ow!" I had decided to leave my coat in the car so that I wouldn't have to carry it, so I hobbled across the frigid parking lot as quickly as I could, sort of cursing, mostly bewildered. My knee was just fine when I got into the car. I don't get it.
After a few minutes, it became clear that this was not a "walk it off" situation. spook went off, as he does, and returned with a wheelchair. Apparently Ikea does have some, for this sort of eventuality.
Let me tell you that the experience of being pushed around in a wheelchair is a little frightening, for a newbie. I kept making "eep!" noises and putting up my hands to fend off possible collisions. Also I got motion sick. Finally, I told spook that I wanted to steer myself.
Bravo, Ikea. Even a wheelchair idiot like me could make the thing go where I wanted it to, and the Ikea layout mostly allows you to go all the places in a wheelchair that you could go without one (I did not test this theory in the bathrooms, so my data is not complete). I now want to borrow one of the mall wheelchairs and try this out in my store. (I may have to, if I'm still limping on Wednesday.) In fact, I think this should be a requirement for people who are designing a store layout: go through the whole thing in a wheelchair or on a scooter and find out where you get stuck.
I bet my arms are gonna be sore tomorrow though. Not to mention my thrice-cursed knee. What the hell!?
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2 comments:
Ow! I hope you're ok. I know what that wheelchair thing is like. After my last surgery I was too weak to walk for a good month or two. It was kinda sucky...and the stairs in my house were a serious problem. Anyways, it's no fun, and I hope your knee heals quickly.
Eek! I've totally had something like that happen before (a spontaneous snap in my back) and it was not a good feeling. Hope you feel better soon!
P.S. Did you have lingonberries with your meatballs?
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