Ha-Ha-Hospitality

Confession:

I’ve always wanted to take a nap on one of those display beds at Kohl’s or Bed, Bath and Beyond. (Who hasn’t, right….RIGHT?!?)

It always seems so convenient after a long day of shopping to just flop on those fluffy comforters and doze off!

Well, apparently I’m not the only one.

This week in Israel, an IKEA shopper thought one of their beds looked pretty comfortable. So she took them up on an offer that probably was never given, kicked off her shoes, and started sawing some logs.

The Full Story

The Times of Israel article  I read reported that the woman felt ill, redistributed her near-digested lunch at the nearest trash can—which was actually a couch—and then decided a nap would be nice.

(The article suggests she had a little help becoming ill from something she ate or drank…but probably something she drank.)

The woman was never bothered by customers or store management, until closing time, when a security guard came to wake her. They let her sleep on that display bed all evening!

Now I’ve never been to an IKEA, but from what I hear, it’s an amazing experience. But I didn’t realize it was because of their hospitality!

So that got me thinking…

That’s an impressive feat of hospitality for that IKEA store. So impressive, in fact, that this story made it all the way around the world (through the magic of the internet!) to my desk in a small town in Michigan. It brought a fair amount of laughter, too. But it’s truly amazing how far a little kindness can go.

Then I thought, what if we were that hospitable?

[I wrote about something like this a while ago when a neighbor-turned-hero simply opened a door, setting three women free from a decade of bondage.] 

What if we took a hint from IKEA and aimed to make people comfortable and peaceful in our presence?

What if we just handed them a glass of water?
Or bought them coffee?
Or invited them in for a meal?
Or let them watch a movie on the couch? (Perhaps have a wastebasket nearby for…emergencies.)
Or even let them sleep on the bed?

Imagine how far a little hospitality could go…!