Stay On The Furniture

A snowstorm leaves Denmark shoppers stranded in the most peculiarly beneficial place.

Have you ever had the urge to hop on the displays, sit in on the sofas and pull out all the drawers when you walk through an IKEA showroom? I know I have. Well, yesterday in Denmark, a snowstorm dropped 12 inches (30 centimeters) of snow. Shoppers and employees alike turned into stranded refugees inside an IKEA in Aalborg, Denmark. Not only did they get to flop themselves onto the beds, but they also nuzzled themselves down into the sheets.

In a surreal experience, IKEA turned out to be the perfect place to get stuck for the night. You don’t have to worry about sleeping in your car to wait out the storm, you have everything you would need right there. A comfy bed, a TV to watch, company to pass the time with, and even food! IKEA even welcomed fellow strandees from the toy shop next door to join them.

Store manager, Peter Elmose told a local tabloid: “We slept in the furniture exhibitions in our showroom on the first floor, where we have beds, mattresses, and sofa beds,” adding that people “could pick the exact bed they have always wanted to try.”

So I put it to you, dear reader, how would you feel about getting stuck with a couple dozen IKEA employees, a handful of other random shoppers, and the staff from the toy store next door? The evening went “super well” for them, and I imagine some lifelong friendships will have developed during this ridiculous event. A strange night of having fun with total strangers stuck in the same predicament as you. Eating and having a good time.

I think Michelle Barrett, one of the toy shop staff, might agree. She told a local news outlet, “It’s much better than sleeping in one’s car. It has been nice and warm and we are just happy that they would let us in. We just laughed at the situation, because we will probably not experience it again.”

Now, I live outside Kansas City, in the heart of the midwest, so erratic weather is no stranger to me. We like to say “if you don’t like the weather today, just wait until tomorrow.” We’ve even got our own IKEA to boot. Now the real question is…did they have to pay for those Swedish meatballs?

Photo by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash

Author: Phillip

Phillip is a dad of three boys and married to a beautiful dedicated woman. An aspiring artist and science fiction author. He has been an IT professional for the past 20+ years. He is currently working on a full-length sci-fi novel, but he also makes small drawings/watercolors for his school-age son's lunchbox and occasionally pretends to be a comedian. He also still struggles with putting two spaces at the end of sentences.

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