Deal of the Week

I arranged to buy a sleeper sofa posted to Craigslist by a brusque Upper East Sider. My friend David and I arrived at her building with a rented van. We walked through the lobby done up Dallas 1983 vogue. Mirrors and pale pink. Or somehow like a poster from a hair salon in 1991. 

The woman in 8P had a little dog named Pepper. After explaining for the second or third time that the rips in the slip cover had developed after many washings, she guided us to the service elevator and accompanied us down with the sofa. 

A black lady stopped us on the sixth floor. She had forgotten her laundry in the elevator. Our guide snapped that she would have to wait to get it. "She is one of the cleaning ladies here," she explained after the door shut. 

"I hope you won't have to carry this up too many stairs." "Oh my God, I could never do that. I have asthma." "Oh, one of my ski socks." "You should put those in the front seat." 

David and I got the sofa up two flights into our living room. Then we spent over an hour getting it up the steps to my bedroom. We detached the metal frame and mattress. We twisted and turned the damn couch every which way. We put holes in the sheetrock when the couch slipped downwards. We nearly conceded defeat, but a last effort proved successful. 

We came back to it hours later, after loading the van full of other (unrelated) things. Reattached the mattress part, rehung my room's door. We sat on the couch and shared the last beer in the fridge. 

What a deal. A $3000 Crate & Barrel sleeper sofa for only $175. When I move from my apartment, my room will come furnished. Or my successor will want to pack a chainsaw.

David, Craigslist Couch