DeadpanAnn (old blogger version)

We need a new dining room table. The one we've got has all kinds of faded places on it, and there are no matching chairs. The chairs we do have are wobbly and old, from some hand-me-down set that Tim's had for an eternity. I won't sit in them-- I use the metal folding chairs. It's really embarrassing when people come over. So yeah. We really need a new dining room set. We've known this for a long time, but it's just one of those things you can put off because it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. Well, we wanted to get it before Charlie was born, but we didn't. And we wanted to get it before Thanksgiving, but I doubt that's gonna happen. We don't want to take Charlie out, so we can't go to the furniture store together, and I don't trust Tim to pick out something on his own. He will talk himself into buying something we don't really want just because it's cheaper, and then I'll have a brand new table and chairs that I don't like, and it'll be years before I can finally replace it. I'm not willing to risk it.

Well, Tim is always browsing Craig's List, and two days ago he found an ad for an antique mahogany table and chairs with a matching buffet. It had belonged to the seller's grandmother, who lived in California, and had been in storage in Laurel, MS for some time. The only picture she had of it showed only one little corner of the table, but it looked okay. After talking to the seller on the phone, we made arrangements to meet her at the storage place in Laurel, which is a 35 minute drive up the interstate.

I wasn't a huge fan of the idea of loading up Charlie and all of the many baby related items that we now have to travel with, but I thought if this furniture was what the lady claimed, it might be a sweet opportunity to get something really nice. So we loaded up Charlie and all the Charlie paraphernalia, and drove to Laurel...where we were sorely disappointed to find that this crazy bitch had the nerve to ask $1,000 for a woe-out old raggedy ass table. Yeah, it was mahogany, and yeah, it was probably very nice eighty years ago. But it ain't nice now. The chairs were even worse. God they were awful. They had burgundy cushions on them. Horrendous. I had followed the lady into the storage unit first while Tim waited in the car with Charlie. It took me about 2.3 seconds to decide we didn't want it, so I told her I was going to go get Tim. I got back in the car and told him it was a piece of shit and I didn't want it. He went to look for himself, and he couldn't believe what a pile of crap it all was.

We might've given her $250 for both the table and hutch with the chairs. Maybe. MAYBE. But she wanted $1450 for the whole set. It's like she was charging extra for the sentimental value it held for her. Why are people stupid? In this case, the better question might be Why do people think WE are stupid? Fourteen hundred and fifty dollars? Really?

I still need a dining room table.