At the ring of the bell I raced across the room, so intent on reaching the door before my dog, Pepper, that I knocked over several boxes of Christmas lights that were stacked in the living room.
Pepper and I had been having a battle of wills lately. I was determined to save the packages that arrived almost daily from inclement weather, and Pepper was set on chasing away those persistent interlopers who constantly tried to leave suspicious boxes on our doorstep.
Pepper, tenacious little Schnoodle that she is, was winning the battle.
So when I threw open the door I was slightly out of breath and grinning because I knew, for this bout at least, that I had won.
I’m sure the delivery guy thought I was nuts. Especially when I threw my arms into the air and shouted, “Yes! My rug is here!”
I was rather surprised to see the rug on my doorstep even though I had purchased it on ebay a month earlier. I had watched via tracking as it made its way from New Jersey to Washington, only to grit my teeth helplessly as a shipping error diverted it out of my grasp to a stranger’s porch somewhere in Florida.
The delivery guy was kind enough to bring the rug inside and place it on the living room floor. I appreciated that, since a 10 X 13 rug can be a little awkward to move around.
He was out the door almost before I could thank him. As I said before, I think he thought I was a little nuts.
I looked at my lovely rug–all nicely rolled up in plastic–blinked, and looked again.
There on my living room floor lay my long awaited rug, and its twin. A quick glance at the shipping labels assured me that both rugs were addressed to me.
I immediately emailed the rug company about the error and am awaiting their response. I don’t expect it to be speedy or accurate, since I had just been told the day before that my rug had not even shipped yet. According to their records it was still sitting on a pallet in their warehouse in New Jersey.
What will happen in the next act of this comedy of errors?