Page 4 - MidWeek - Feb 8, 2023

4 MIDWEEK FEBRUARY 8, 2023
MTalking To Myself
What’s the best Valentine’s Day gift you’ve received?
y wife and I don’t frequently buy furniture, but when we do, it’s from one of three places: INspiration, Ashley/Red Knot/HomeWorld or
Mid-Town Radio Disco Mart. That’s been the case ever since we became homeowners, and these establishments offer a great variety of styles at reasonable prices. We tend to buy a mix of modern and classic pieces of furniture, which usually lasts us for years.
During this past Christmas when we had family over for our annual gingerbread house-making contest, I noticed that our dining table chairs were coming apart. We held onto them for too long, as the seats were giving out and the backs were peeling and flaking (faux leather).
TIM SAKAHARA
Corporate Communications Manager, Honolulu
“My wife gave me a set
of decorative cards with
a note on each one with something she loves about me or us. I would read one card every day for a year.”
LIAN BALMORES
Oncology Clinician Nurse,
‘Ewa Beach
“Food! My other half and
I would always celebrate Valentine’s Day dining at a fancy restaurant, or go to a new place we haven’t tried yet.”
FRANK JUMAWAN
Instructional Technology Specialist, Honolulu
“The person herself and being with that person, because without her, there is no Valentine’s Day for me.”
MARY ROSE NINO
Pediatrician, ‘Ewa Beach
“Becoming a mom when my first daughter, Emma Juliet, was born on Valentine’s Day six years ago. She will always be my forever Valentine.”
So, the other weekend, my wife and I decided it was time to replace the chairs. She watches a lot of HGTV and has a great sense of style. Of the six chairs, she suggested replacing three of them with a bench seat and the remaining three with matching high-back chairs.
We headed out to the Ashley home store in Salt Lake. We were welcomed by Sean, who said to call on him if we needed anything. That’s the way we like to shop, without a salesperson following us around the store. We walked through the entire store and made our way back to the clearance furniture area.
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TArmchair Quarterback
he Super Bowl is coming up, and exclama- tions during the game from those who think the coach made a bad call is common. The term
“armchair quarterback” comes from football, and re- fers to a person who does not participate yet makes judgments about a situation.
Taking this beyond football, have you ever thought you knew pretty much everything there is to know about something, and then later found out there was more to it? We all have blind spots in our knowledge, though our ego likes to tell us otherwise.
True wisdom is when you realize there is a lot you don’t know, and that a lot of what you do know may be misguided or even untrue. Having an open mindset, and embracing humility is a practice that can help us see more clearly in every aspect of life.
alice@yourhappinessu.com
And there it was, the perfect bench seat — but only one matching high-back chair. We asked Sean if they had any more of the chairs from that Luvoni set in the store since we needed two more. We re-combed the store but didn’t find any. That was OK, as the price of the bench was so good that we decided to buy it to take home.
We went up to the front to check out, and the other sales guy was at the computer behind the counter with a phone headset on. I stood in front of him, but was separated by one of those plexiglass protectors between us.
Sean came up and suggested we try calling another store to see if they had any chairs from this Luvoni set. I took out my phone and did a search for other Ashley stores, not real- izing it was looking at nearby locations instead. Someone answered immediately.
I said I was at another Ashley store and was looking for two of the Luvoni high-back chairs. The person told me to hold and that he would check. Suddenly the guy behind the plexiglass yelled to Sean, “There’s another person on the line looking for the same chairs as your customer.”
That’s when I realized I had called the store we were at. Not wanting to reveal my idiocy, I hung up. The guy behind the plexiglass looked up and said, “That was you wasn’t it?”
rnagasawa@midweek.com