We were window shopping at garage sales and Craig's List for a table and chairs. We found one for $150 on Craig's List so we contacted them and set up a time to meet and see it. The pictures were really cute--a cute wooden table with four cute chairs. So we drove in Rhett's little car to check it out. We walked in and loved it. Sat in the chairs and said, "We'll take it." Rhett said, "The chairs are comfy too." Then the man said, "Yeah, my wife didn't want to sell the chairs." Well, we were under the impression that we were getting the table and chairs for $125 (we got mixed up on the price with a few others we looked at). So we were a little disappointed but felt like we couldn't really change our minds. The man loaded it up in his truck because there was no way it would fit in Rhett's little car next to Summer's car seat. (And this guy is . . . a little bit older than old with a bandage wrap on his arm. I was worried he was going to have a heart attack right there!) Anyway, he wanted cash, not a check, so on our way home, we stopped and got $125. He helped Rhett carry it up the stairs and into our apartment. Then the issue of the cost came up. "Was it $150? Or $125?" "I thought it was $125." "I think it's $150. I could be wrong. My wife's the one in charge . . . " So anyway, I found a ten dollar bill sitting on the counter and was running around trying to find some more loose change. (Poor college students don't really have loose change around, so it was kind of hard.) He took a look around and realized how poor we are and said, "You guys are just starting out. This will be fine." And he left.
Rhett and I sat on the couch (not at the table because there were no chairs. We were both a little upset about the "misrepresentation" in the pictures). Then we did the only thing we could do at a time like this. We went garage sale shopping for chairs. "But people don't just sell dining table chairs. They are going to sell chairs with the table, and we already have a table," I said to Rhett. Well, the first place we stopped at, stuff was set up everywhere, on the table, around, etc. The man said, "Everything here is for sale except the table." Rhett and I looked at each other. How ironic. But the chairs just weren't right. So we said we'd think about it and come back. We went searching again. The next place we stopped, there were five nice chairs. But we only wanted four. They were being sold for $100, and we did not want to spend that much. We could have just gone to Wal Mart to get something cheaper and still nice! Rhett told the seller we only wanted four chairs, but she didn't really want to sell only four and have one left over--a little more difficult to sell just one than a set. We were standing there checking them out when another lady came by and starting looking at them. The seller had dropped the price to $75 because there was a screw missing in the arm of the armchair. I whispered to Rhett that this lady wanted the chairs too, but she heard and said, "No, I only want one." Wow. How ironic again. So we took the four chairs for $60, and I talked the other lady into buying just the one armchair. It worked out pretty well.
The wood doesn't match exactly--the chairs are a reddish color, and the table is brown (found in an old barn and built around 1906)--but the white table cloth hides the mismatch and it actually looks really nice in our little home. We celebrated that night by eating at our table on our chair with our matching dishes!
Okay, so much for the short version of the story! That's what I get for being an English Major! Sorry!
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