You Made Me Love You, I Didn't Want To Do It

You Made Me Love You, I Didn't Want To Do It

It’s was time. No it was s-e-v-e-r-e-l-y past due. I didn’t know if these poor little excuses for dining chairs would collapse the next time someone sat on them or what would happen. Occasionally, I would get this wild visual of an elephant standing on one foot on a toothpick, a rather fragile picture don’t you think. At night when we pushed the chairs close into the table, the back legs were bowed in or out, depending on which way the back of the chair was leaning. We lived that way for a r-e-a-l-l-y long time. Everyday we would find another screw on the area rug beneath the table. And everyday I would attempt to repair the chair. It got to be such a chore that I just finally started to toss the screws in the junk drawer. It’s by the grace of God that no one ever fell. We bought the set brand new and put it together ourselves (I know you’re thinking, gee whiz, do you think that’s the reason why they’re falling apart? Whatever!). It was a warm blond wood color and it worked well with our house décor. Actually it really didn’t, I think the reality was that the price worked well with our budget. Originally we had 6 six chairs, last month we were down to 3. One by one, they found their way to the center of the garage, the special place for our collection for our annual goodwill donation. Actually they didn’t find their way there, I carried them myself. Of course no one else in the house thought to take them to the garage. Even when I had one turned upside down on the floor in the middle of the family room, everyone just walked over or around it. It’s funny how something so out of place can become part of the everyday scenery.

We are a family of 5, actually 7 if you include the girls’ boyfriends, whom I consider part of the family. Most of the time there are just three of us at dinner anyway, the girls are always gone.
We hadn’t had company in quite some time and we were going to have a celebration for my daughter Stephanie’s graduation from MUD, make up designory school . Do you have a wedding, prom or quincenera coming up? If you are a director or producer, please let your people know about my people, oh, I mean about this girl, she’s f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s and would be a great addition to your movie set or shoot, makeupbysteph.h.@gmail.com (one’s got to take advantage of an audience –can’t blame a gal for trying).

Oh, okay, back to the party. As you know, as in all families, we all come in different weights and sizes and we have different ways of sitting on a chair. At this point our weight didn’t matter, what mattered is that you had to have great balance to sit on one of these chairs. None of us have the flattest abs (not by far), however, it takes great core strength to sit on these chairs for a meal, not to mention an evening of reading, socializing, or watching TV (if we sat on the couch we would be out in 10 minutes).

There was no way I was going to have company the next week and use this dining set, what if the chair legs busted or just fell apart. Oh how embarrassing would that be, not to mention dangerous. So Saturday came, and off we went to go furniture hunting. My husband and I must have gone to at least 5 different stores and warehouses. It seemed that most of the stores carried the same type of tables and chairs; the main difference was the price.

We decided to try one more store before heading home. We were close to buying a set that was similar to the one we had (cheap again) when saw the table and chairs that we both liked (did you guess – more expensive). It was cherry wood, looked a bit Asian, it came with 8 chairs and a large lazy Susan (is this how you spell that?). We had lots of time to go back and forth and weigh the pros and cons of this purchase. We decided that if the sales guy would come down significantly we would buy it, we hadn’t much money, we weren’t asking for too much, huh.

I was in a great mood that day and had my “I don’t care I don’t have to have it today” attitude on. Dave and I were actually having a good time shopping. Ross, the salesman finally approached us and asked if we were looking for something special. I said, “well, we are looking for this (the cherry wood) at that price (the cheap set again)”. He laughed at the absurdity of the statement. Dave and I kept going back to the cheap set making eyes at each other ready for the negotiating game to start. Ross walked back to the cherry wood. “Now Ross”, I finally said, “I know you are in business to make a profit, however, we can’t pay that price, but if you are willing to come down a bit, well . . .” “I can’t do that ma’am,” he said trying to sound forceful. “Okay”, I said. “Well, honey, let’s go home, I guess it’s just not meant for us to buy today.” One, two, three . . . (I counted) As we moved toward the exit, (now I know you are already guessing what was going to happen) Ross said, “well, $@#*% is the best I can do. Yes! I shouted inside my head! “Now, Ross, that price is a bit better but we still can’t afford that. I know he was quickly trying to figure out my type, serious, coy, a little flirty, but safe because honey is here (sometimes I am just hard to resist –a charmer of sorts– sorry honey if you’re reading this, but you know how the program works – I make the deals and you write the checks.) Ross’ head tilted back in defeat, his eyes closed for a brief moment, a shallow breath, and he said, “okay if you pay cash I won’t charge you tax”. I replied, “I suppose we can do that if it’s the best you can do, is it the best you can do Ross?” I laughed, he as you might imagine almost didn’t. I extended my hand, “you’ve got a deal”.

Feeling triumphant, we get to the desk where he would write up the invoice for our purchase. Now I knew that I didn’t have enough cash on me, I had only part of it. So Ross wrote up the purchase invoice, as I dug through my purse pretending to try and come up with more cash. I told him that I didn’t have a credit or atm card to pay the balance. Why did I do this, you ask? Well I had to be sure we were getting the best deal. I mean, I knew we were based on the prices from the other stores we had visited, but I wanted to see if he was willing to come down on the price just a little more. Times are tough, right? I told him I was going to have to go borrow money (that was a good tactic don’t you think? – the truth was I had to go to find an ATM machine). He didn’t bite with that story, so off we went and returned an hour later, they were just about to close when Ross saw us walking in he smiled, “I didn’t think you were coming back.”

We would be taking home a beautiful cherry wood table and 6 chairs. Ross quoted us a special price if we later purchased 2 more chairs (we wanted 2 more chairs but couldn’t afford them at that time). Just then his co-worker, perhaps business partner, addressed him in their other language, apparently they are bilingual. While Ross and his buddy went back and forth with words, he perused quickly the invoice, said something to Ross, and Ross didn’t look happy. The only thing we heard in English was this, “there goes our profit”.

Now cut to one month later, we were now in the position to buy 2 more chairs. I grabbed my cash and my husband and off we went to see our friend Ross, the real nice salesman.
We walked in and Ross just happened to be near the front door of the furniture showroom. His eyes widened when he saw us (I’m not sure if it was because he was pleasantly surprised or didn’t know what he might be in for (it could have been a combination of both – I can sometimes have that affect on people). I explained to Ross that we wanted to buy two more chairs and that we had cash. Oh, he was happy, this sale was a no brainer, easy, right? Wrong. We sat at the same table as before and Ross quickly wrote up the invoice, quoting a price much higher than before. Now Ross, “that is not what you quoted us on the day we made our purchase. My husband and I most definitely recall what you had quoted us on that day, two chairs for $^#@*, we’ve been talking about the amount all month long”. I said, “Ross, I can’t pay that. I came prepared to pay $^@#*, see here’s my money”, I flashed him my little wad of money. Suddenly, Ross’ co-worker or business partner was suddenly in sight, and he jumped in our conversation and said, “You should have bought the chairs a month ago.” I retorted lightly, “I would have if I could have afforded it then. But, I am here now, do you want my money today? If not, well, I’ll have to come back in 6 months. What’s it gonna be fellows, do you want a sale today or not?” So the bargaining began-Ross came down in price slightly, I came up a few dollars and we went back and forth until he squeezed just another $10 more than my original offer. “Thank you Lord”, I exclaimed out loud. Once again Ross addressed this fellow and the fellow again retorted, “fine, but there goes our profit.”

I think Ross was trying to do the right thing by honoring his word and I believe God softened his heart and worked on him both visits.

As we were headed out the door Dave and I noticed a beautiful porcelain statute of the last supper. The sign read, “not for sale”. Once the chairs were loaded into the truck, I asked Ross about the last supper piece, he said quickly “that is not for sale ma’am”. I got the feeling that he felt he had already been nice to me, didn’t know why he was, got in trouble twice, and his voice begged please don’t make me go through anymore.

I was reminded of this story today because I found a cute little stuffed dog I had bought for valentine’s day last year, it plays this great song and the lyrics today remind me of Ross, “You made me love you, I didn’t want to do it, I didn’t want to do it, you made me l-o-v-e you.” Lord, another blessing in this house, another man whose heart you have softened with love. Thank you.

Ross - I told you I'd tell 10 friends about you! You're the best!
HK Furniture Liquidator
20011 E. Walnut Dr. North
Walnut, CA 91789
(909) 444-8399