# Area lunatic buys up all the cheap office furniture!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 22, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-lunatic-buys-up-all-the-cheap-office-furniture/318194 "2005-08-22T23:41:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-lunatic-buys-up-all-the-cheap-office-furniture/318194/1 "2005-08-22T23:41:01Z")
It seems some mad scientist had purchased all of the cheap maple-colored bookcases in my area! You know the ones - 5 shelves, about 72" high, priced at $50-70 depending on the store. I was unpacking all of my mass quantities of books in my new apartment, and found myself short on storage space. So I hopped into the car and took off for Home Depot. They had the shelf I wanted, but the only color they had in stock was white. All sold out of the color that would match my existing ranks of bookcases. Then I went to Office Depot. They also had the one I wanted. The display model. Out of stock. They were also sold out of all other maple-colored shelving units. Finally I tried Staples. This was the most fun. The sign on the shelf said out of stock. But I went one step beyond that: asking the guy who looked like a manager to check on it for me. He went in the back, and came out a short time later saying there was one left. He even wrote me a slip to take to the cashier, so that someone would bring the case out to my car for me. Once I got the the cashier, chaos ensued. The stockboy the cashier sent could not find the item in question, and did not bother to inform anyone of this. So I stood there for about 15 minutes, twiddling my thumbs (politely). Finally I asked what the deal was, and the cashier asked the stockboy. Informed that they seemingly had none in stock, I asked her to speak to “Ron”, who had apparently seen one with his own eyes. The response: “I don’t do shelves”. More bewildered than angry, I left the store and found solace in a Quarter Pounder with Cheese at the nearest McDonald’s. So whats the deal? Has some psyco figured out a plan for world domination using only cheap office furniture? Is anyone else experience this bizzare shortage? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-lunatic-buys-up-all-the-cheap-office-furniture/318194/2 "2005-08-22T23:50:18Z")
\ Crap! :eek: They’re on to me! I gotta let the talking walnut know we’ve been found out! Crap! Did I type that out loud? ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-lunatic-buys-up-all-the-cheap-office-furniture/318194/3 "2005-08-22T23:55:58Z")
I think Bo planned to use it for [this](http://www.worth1000.com/cache/gallery/contestcache.asp?contest_id=721&display=photoshop). (Warning! Link contains Giant Robots!) ---
**Author:** ![Psilocybe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/51bf81/32.png) [@Psilocybe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Psilocybe)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-lunatic-buys-up-all-the-cheap-office-furniture/318194/4 "2005-08-22T23:56:13Z")
My guess is all the college students bought everything. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-lunatic-buys-up-all-the-cheap-office-furniture/318194/5 "2005-08-23T00:12:20Z")
Strange in this area its 2 position steno chairs for under $100 that disappeared from Stores. These are the chairs that have 1 control for vertical and 1 for seat & back angle. I have a bad but not terrible back and sitting at a desk all day, this simple little cheap chair was a great help. I been to 5 stores and finally settled for a vertical adjustment only that felt comfortable. ---
**Author:** ![missdavis102](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7feea3/32.png) [@missdavis102](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missdavis102)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-lunatic-buys-up-all-the-cheap-office-furniture/318194/6 "2005-08-23T02:22:24Z")
1. Collect Maple colored shelves. 2. ??? 3. World Domination. ---
**Author:** ![missdavis102](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7feea3/32.png) [@missdavis102](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missdavis102)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-lunatic-buys-up-all-the-cheap-office-furniture/318194/7 "2005-08-23T02:24:28Z")
:smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: Walnut, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-lunatic-buys-up-all-the-cheap-office-furniture/318194/8 "2005-08-23T02:31:01Z")
> [@missdavis102](#): > > :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: > > Walnut, dammit! Yeah, everyone knows you need Walnut siding on a 1920s-style death ray. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-lunatic-buys-up-all-the-cheap-office-furniture/318194/9 "2005-08-23T02:53:51Z")
Coming soon - “The Maple Gates” by Christo. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-lunatic-buys-up-all-the-cheap-office-furniture/318194/10 "2005-08-24T14:27:15Z")
Well, I managed to find one of the hallowed book-shelving units at Home Depot. It seems a shipment arrived which I promptly absconded with before Monterey’s resident mad scientist could get to them. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-lunatic-buys-up-all-the-cheap-office-furniture/318194/11 "2005-08-24T17:33:03Z")
Day 972: Dear Diary, I think my many enemies may be on to plan. HA HA! The fools are too late. Nothing could stop me now. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-lunatic-buys-up-all-the-cheap-office-furniture/318194/12 "2005-08-24T17:53:14Z")
Note to self: The Cynical one knows too much. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-lunatic-buys-up-all-the-cheap-office-furniture/318194/13 "2005-08-24T19:54:59Z")
Feh. It sounds like cheap plywood. Keep your books on the floor, and save up for a real, solid wood bookshelf that’ll last longer than a Fox reality show. There’s also the Ikea roadtrip option, if you insist on cheap. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-lunatic-buys-up-all-the-cheap-office-furniture/318194/14 "2005-08-24T22:55:05Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > Feh. It sounds like cheap plywood. Keep your books on the floor, and save up for a real, solid wood bookshelf that’ll last longer than a Fox reality show. > > There’s also the Ikea roadtrip option, if you insist on cheap. I wish they were made of plywood. That is a lot more sturdy that particle board.