8”x11” paper. King size sheets. 60 watt light bulbs. One pound of spaghetti.
I didn’t even realize how much I relied on these standards until I was looking for a small table to fit by the new couch. Industry standards have all end tables at 26” high. I want the table to fit just under the roll of the arm. Twenty-two inches
I spend the afternoon at Pier One and World Market with my tiny measuring tape, looking at all the tables. I should have caught on more quickly, but the shapes and colors must confuse my sense of height, so I keep measure each one. 26. 26. 26.
Jesus Christ! No one, NO ONE??, needs a table that’s 22-inches tall? I am the only person that wants the end table to tuck under the arm instead of flush with the top?
I enjoy being a rebel, but this is too much.
How does it happen? Do all the makers of couches and end tables have a conference? Do they do it at the same time that mattress makers do? Do they meet at the same hotel and mingle at the bar, trading stories of customers who want a 22-inch high table? “Can you believe it?! Sure! We can do that...for another thousand dollars!!!” The laughter spills out into the lobby. Drunk, they all agree, sign a napkin stating, that from now on, King Size will add a ¼ inch to the length. They'll make millions
There must be one, right? One sales rep who doesn’t drink and who leaves the party early to phone home goodnight to the kids. The one who doesn’t order an appetizer at dinner. The rep with the ironed shirts. The one with a notebook who sits at the front of all the conference presentations. Sometimes the only one at the presentation. That one. Sitting there, thinking, “But what if we just…” and “We could do so much more if we only…”
I’m counting on you. Go ahead: in front of everyone, in the middle of the presentation on new fabrics for a new century, raise your hand and ask the question: Why NOT lower the tables?
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