ikea, the enchanted land

ive been to many ikeas all over the world.

denmark. austria. uk. usa. czech. and canada.

every time the new catalogue hits the mail, i imagine many people picking it up, looking through fantasy houses, much like little kids imagining life in a doll house. they are pretty. they are perfect. then once you grow up a bit, usually old enough to run around the store without parental supervision, people often start to dream up scenarios in these tiny domestic vignettes.  hey in china, people even started to 'live' their day times in stores, sleeping, eating and who knows what. talk about living the dream.  one day, i hope to start composing a short scene for each spreads. i think it would be entertaining...

http://time.com/3814935/ikea-china-customers-sleeping

often i hear complaints about ikea products.  and it makes me laugh a little, as it must be so that so many of us have had (or still have and will have more of) these essential modular life furniture. and so many of us mustve build them as our 'first' adult things, with little hex key and supposedly helpful minimal graphic instructions

weve screamed at them. weve studied on them.  weve broke them. weve thrown parties with them. who have not had a billy book case? filled up a frakta blue shopping bag with various fillings? (my last fillings were broken up shed to the kip)

and yes, i do have to start my ikea visit at the cafe and i do always get a hotdog and a softie at the end of checkout. and yeah, cod roe tube and meatball take-homes rock. but man, the drama of the cafe.

i always see families. friends. young people. old people. people who are buying their first furnitures. people who are new to the country.  people who are entertaining selves, with laptop plugged in. parents with children, hoping to distract them with colourful childrens toys. cheap coffee and decent cakes and food.  i love the fact that all ikea stores start with cafe and ends with hotdog stand.

today in ikea, i saw:

young 20 somethings filling their bottles with little soda as they are leaving the area.  oh so very carefully. they couldnt resist a bit of naughtiness.

a couple checking out with tray of food, the girl sneaking in a last minute decision chocolate pie and the partner girl with a small but humorous sigh.

an old man with four ( ! ) meatball dinners. he sat down and unpacked his bag, took out four tupperwares and start to pack them. then left the cafe.

three girls in private school uniform and dad.  girls 'ewwing' dad for having meatballs. they are having veggie balls.

four teenagers eating the biggest meatball dinners, then polishing up a sandwich each, comparing chicken vs meat vs veggie balls.

little kiddie who ran away from moms' table, starting to finger lick all the used dishes at the 'to be cleaned' area. mom realizes, whisks child, then put him down at his own full dish of fish and chips. he isnt interested though.

all these vignettes.

i like spending my time in ikea. i like seeing a bit of fantasy and bit of reality.

and i walked out without buying any furniture! hooray me.
but next time, i prob have my coffee/cake and a hotdog/softie.
and may be another billy case.