Iโm in the midst of moving right now, and we are trying to make this new home our own. Before we moved, we got rid of a lot of our furniture so that we could โstart freshโ or, as I like to call it, โfind a way to send me straight to the chiropractor.โ
Yes, thatโs right, Iโm in flat-pack hell.
Flat-pack furniture has its place. Sure, itโs cheap. Sure, itโs made out of laminated particleboard, and sure, youโre spending hours of your own time (How much do you make an hour?) to save in overseas labor costs. But the kids need shelving in their closets, and white flat-pack drawers look like built-ins for a fraction of the price.
Iโve spent the better part of the last week on the floor of my new living room (The carpet doesnโt look nearly as nice as when Iโm standing.) assembling various units. Donโt get me wrongโaside from the lower back trauma from being hunched over for hours at a time, I rather enjoy assembling flat-pack furniture. Itโs like adult Legos but with disastrous consequences, if you do something wrong.
As we all know, particleboard isnโt particularly forgiving.
Flat-pack assembly is the โDonโt step on the carpet because itโs lavaโ game but for adults. Plus, when else can you give your kids an accelerated course on the kind of language heโs not going to hear until (hopefully) high school?
As I sat surrounded by cardboard debris, my three-year-old son says, โLook, Daddy! I go between the boxes!โ
I look up and, sure enough, heโs squeezing between two boxes. Oh, hurrah, my son can suck in his belly, I think. Thatโs a skill heโll need later in life.
He finishes with a flourish and his hands outstretched, โTa Da!โ
Yeah. Ta Da. Big whoop, kid. Do you want a round of applause? โGood job, boy. Now go find one of your brothers to annoy.โ
A bit later I finish my first cabinet. I stand up, stretch my aching back, and call in my wife.
โDone with the first one.โ
She glanced over. โYep,โ and then she just walked away.
It is at this moment that I realize my son was right. Iโm a grown man, but every once in awhile, I still feel the need to say, โTa Da!โ Because, damn it, I worked hard on this thing, and you should give it the respect it deserves. Too often you deal with customers who feel like they canโt compliment your work or they risk losing the ability to make changes later. Or they feel youโll get a big head. I donโt know how they think. Crazyโthe lot of them. You often donโt know you did a good job until the referral gets back to you. And that is nice, but itโs not the same as an on-the-spot compliment.
But Iโll tell you this: Putting together a flat-pack shelf is one thing, creating something from a pile of lumber and a few screws is something else entirely. You deserve a โTa Daโ today, and Iโm going to give it to you. Just know that as I finish typing the next words, Iโm slowly standing and starting a round of applause. And yes, my wife thinks Iโm a nut job.
So go ahead. Take your โTa Da.โ Youโve earned it.
