Saturday, March 2, 2013

Strange Combination


Many years ago I helped my niece assemble several pieces of IKEA furniture for her apartment.  I arrived in time to take over the assembly of two pieces she was having problems assembling.  One piece was a trundle bed and the other piece was an “S” shaped lounging chair.  The bed I knocked off in short time and was proud of my rapid work.  The chair proved much more challenging. 

There were two identical “S” pieces that formed the sides and no matter how many times I tried to line up the pieces two of the screw holes never matched the cross members.  They were less than an eighth of an inch out of alignment.  After more than an hour I found the solution, the pieces were upside down (the upper and lower portions were not exactly the same dimensions and shape).  Perhaps I should have read the instructions more diligently.  An old axiom about putting kits together is if all else fails you should read the instructions.  Last year my son assembled several IKEA bookcases without any problems.  Not being a natural fix-it guy I know he read the instructions.

Although I have never shopped at an IKEA store I have a significant appreciation for the excellent products they sell.  My niece and son love the pieces they have and both still shop at the store and at the on-line web store.

Last week news broke that IKEA had meatballs tainted with horse meat.  I had to read that headline several times before it really sunk in what the story was about.  Horse meat at a furniture store.  Just that thought alone defies logic.  Horse meat at a furniture store.

Great furniture, bad meatballs.  In the calendar after Monday and Tuesday is WTF!  WTF is IKEA doing with meatballs?

I imagine that during a sales or marketing meeting a hand popped and a junior executive blurted out a bright idea, “Let’s sell meatballs.”  “Great idea,” another voice approved.  Several years later we have horse meat tainted meatballs at the furniture store.

“Welcome to IKEA.  Can I show you a couch, a desk or a meatball?” What is stranger: IKEA selling meatballs or meatballs tainted with horsemeat?  There is an incongruity in that question that I am still trying to figure out.

Ten bonus points if you can enlighten me.

**** 

Last night I had a nightmare.

I came home from work and asked my wife what was for dinner?

She answered, “Meatballs with spaghetti.  They had a sale at IKEA that I couldn't resist.”


****
Followup story: March 1, 2013
Horse meat found in Taco Bell in the United Kingdom.  Or perhaps it was Gidget?


 

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4 comments:

  1. They are a Swedish company and the meatballs are Swedish meatballs. Nina always jokes around about trying em, but I guess not anymore.

    Our bookcases from Ikea look like professional built-ins and we are planning to take them to our new house. Last year, we got doors for the bottom half of the bookcases and that are great...they hide the soap supplies. Yes Dad, I did read the instructions.

    We may go back soon before we list our house and look at sofas and coffee tables, but no meatballs.

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  2. Ikea is a HUGE store and they want to keep you as long as possible in the store so they offer sustenance in the form of a beautiful cafeteria and dining room. Their restrooms are outfitted for families, too, so that babies can be easily changed and there is a room for nursing mothers. It is quite the operation.

    As for those meatballs. I was aghast as I had always figured they were made in-house. Their mac/cheese is excellent, too. I always made a point to have lunch any time we were in an Ikea store. Now, maybe not.

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  3. dkzody: Think of the things we ate as children in the old days. My mother used to leave out the turkey three days to defrost. And we survived.

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  4. Ikea stores over here have a small food department, selling a range of Swedish popular foods.

    This whole 'Horsegate' situation was first discovered in Ireland and it seems to have been well hidden across the globe. Mind the news that made me smile, was the meat pies in Iceland, country and not the store, had no meat in them whatsoever!

    I thank my mother daily (even though she died seventeen years ago) that she taught me to cook all meals from scratch.

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