The rug debacle

A few years ago, my friends Dave and Jan were getting rid of a 6’ x 9’ rug they no longer needed. As it happened, I was on the lookout for a rug for the dining room and it was the perfect size, so I happily took it off their hands. The rug was patterned, a combination of brown and gold and beige.

Anyone who remembers the 2011 Down with Brown project will know that brown isn’t my favourite colour. But the browns of the rug were more taupe than brown and that’s okay. And it looked just fine in the diningroom.

When I recently met Ben for a coffee – and to return his guitar – I gave him a lift home afterwards so I could see his new abode. He moved a while ago from an expensive rented apartment in the village to his very own tiny home a little distance away. It is indeed tiny and for that reason there was no way he could use the rug he used to have in his livingroom. He asked me if I wanted it. I asked to see it again to remind me of the colours, so we unrolled it. 

Oh, my. That would certainly brighten up the diningroom – if it fit. His rug was 8’ x 10’. I thought it would fit, but I wasn’t sure. Came home and measured the diningroom. Yes! It would fit. This would involve lifting the sideboard a bit at one end of the room to slip a couple of inches under it, but it would fit. Sent Ben a text to say, yes, I definitely wanted the rug and would collect it as soon as I could find someone to help me. (No way I could transport it in my Echo.)

Next day I hauled the table and chairs out and gave the old rug a good hoovering before rolling it up to be taken to the island recycling centre. I also washed the diningroom floor, not entirely sure when I had last done this. (Oops.)

Not sure you can make it out from this pic, but I was surprised to discover the white tiles under the carpet had yellowed. Interesting.

When my friend Catherine arrived for a visit last weekend, I was reminded that she had traded in her Yaris for a Toyota SUV which was far more suitable for driving in the winter in the interior. Took one look at the car and realised, yes, the rugs would fit.

On Saturday afternoon we dropped the brown rug of at the recycling centre just before it closed. 

Sent Ben a text the next morning to say I had someone to help me fetch the rug from his place and would be over later. Got an unwelcome reply, saying that, as he hadn’t heard from me for a few days, he’d given the rug to someone else. What the fuck? Told Catherine what had happened and said “fucking men.” She agreed. Follow up text from Ben saying sorry, he obviously should have checked with me first. You think? Fuck. I’d gone from an okay rug to no rug in the diningroom. Fuck.

Okay, maybe not. I didn’t have his phone number, but I did have an email address for the manager of the recycling centre. We’d taken the rug in so late in the day that it was highly unlikely it had been unrolled and sold in the remaining half hour the centre was opened. Sent him a message, explaining the situation and asking if he could see if the rug was still there and hold it for me to pick up. Obviously I would make a donation to the centre to make up for the hassle. Sent a text to Ben to say all might not be lost. Got a reply: “I’ll make the donation. I feel like such a fucking goof.” You think? An email back from the manager to say he would check when he was in on Tuesday. A call on Tuesday to say yes, the rug was still there and could I come and collect it now? Yes, I could.

Headed down with some rope to tie down the trunk, fetched rug and brought it back. Hauled table and chairs out of the diningroom again and unrolled the rug.

Everything back as it was.

Fucking men. (Okay, not all of them, but sheesh.)