Monday, June 25, 2007

Hidden Dangers at IKEA..

Given that we were already in Shuwaikh, I suggested that we go and eat dinner at IKEA. I loooooooooove the food at IKEA. Seriously. It tastes homemade and it totally reminds me of my grandmother's cooking. My favorite is the swedish meatballs with potatoes and gravy.

After we ate, we decided to check out the sales. The kids picked out a few toys and we then went to the dishes section to buy some new glasses. Here is where the danger lies. First, even in the old IKEA, this section of the store has never had any visible staff around. I think they all hang out in the drapes/bedding sections to help customers with sizes, etc. But the dishes area needs the most attention given that there are knives and tons of glass around! I mean.........DUH!

So, the first incident came when my 2 year old ran ahead of me. I went to grab her and as I got closer to the place she was trying to run to, I finally saw what she was after. Someone had left a shiny and sharp knife out in the open on a low shelf. There was no cover on the knife. Apparently, someone had opened up the wooden holder that holds like 4 knives to inspect it. Then they just tossed it wherever. If I had not been right behind my daughter she could have stabbed herself, me or another customer. I looked, in vain, for an IKEA helper to complain to...but there was no one there!!!
I was pretty irate but went back to looking for glasses. And as you can guess the drama went on. I found some glasses I liked and picked up a box that had four glasses in it. I felt searing pain on my finger. And then the blood started gushing. Another idiot customer, I assume, had chipped the top of one of the glasses and that is exactly where I picked it up from. So, I had a big gash on my finger and as usual no IKEA helper to offer condolences or to even say sorry. Ugh! Luckily, I had an extra diaper in my purse and I wrapped my finger up with that. And I looked beyond stupid walking around the store with a diaper on my hand!

We finally got to the checkout area and I raced to the bathroom to wash my finger and wrap it in tissue. I wanted to find a manager to complain to but the checkout guy said we would have to wait for someone.

I wanted OUT of that store...so I did not get a chance to complain.

So, if you go to IKEA....please be careful!!

4 comments:

Purgatory said...

Your mom is swedish>?

Sumi-Kuwait said...

Lol........actually on my mom's side it is a mix of Lebanese and English. My great grandfather was 100% Lebanese and he married an English woman...British I think. Anyway, on my father's side his ancestors were Irish and British. So, I am a mix of three...British, Lebanese and Irish.

And as for the swedish meatballs, etc, my grandmother had an international cookbook that she liked to cook from. So she always made swedish meatballs and gravy! :)

Purgatory said...

OK, makes sense now, I guess.

Anonymous said...

The last time I visited Ikea I made a complain because there was no one to help when you wnat to enquire about an item. I got so frustrated that I left my shopping complained and left.