Positive Redundancy #30 sofa shopping

We walked through the sofa section in Arnotts in Dublin, and even though we were well beyond our budget we sat down on the Natuzzi leather sofa.  Luxury, at €4998.  It was cooler that morning, so I had put on my old cosy fleece.

As I got up from the posh leather sofa,  I felt something tug at me and I turned to look back.  Robert joked that I was gutted at leaving the posh sofa – but I really felt like I was being pulled backwards.

Robert was smiling  as he guided me through the  display.  Still I felt tension around my waist, I felt around, but could  see nothing.  We were now about 10 feet from where we sat down, when I heard the strangest sound.

It was like that old cider advert where bow and arrows shoot through the air to hammer home the point to buy that brand.  There was an enormous, loud prolonged whoosh of air.  I looked around and found I was now, stuck to the spot – I couldn’t move at all.  But Robert was still trying to steer me onwards.

The noise was getting louder, I felt nervous and anxious incase some nutter had gotten into the store with a crossbow!  In a fraction of a second, just as that thought popped into my head.  Robert grabbed the top of his thigh and shouted ‘Jesus Christ’.  I turned again to see him doubled up holding his thigh.

At that exact instant, the bobble-tie from my fleece hit me on the thigh as well – but luckily for me the speed had gone out of it, after its impact on poor Robert.

I had obviously got my toggle from my fleece stuck down the side of the Natuzzi sofa and as I tried to walk away it had pulled me back.  It was an old fleece and the elastic at the bottom had gotten elongated over the years.

Tears, ran down my face with laughter.  Robert was hysterical with laughter through the pain – giddy from the shock.  We were incapable of speech –  we pointed at the sofa, then at Robert’s thigh and pulled the toggle and laughed til tears ran down our faces.  Still no words – I looked concerned and pointed to the Natuzzi sofa – quickly thinking we could have damaged it – a quick, simple check; all okay.

We sloped  out onto the street – laughing like two kids trying to hold in a laugh in class.  We imitated the whoosh of the elastic as it shot past Robert and onto me.

I don’t know if you can say almost peeing yourself in a furniture shop is a positive?  But laughing so hard that we couldn’t speak is definitely something that should be appreciated as it’s a rare and beautiful thing.

So would it have happened if I wasn’t redundant?  I would have no time to casually sofa surf.  Also – wear a fleece on a weekday?  Never!