# Inexplicable sofa **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 12, 2015, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652 "2015-01-12T21:42:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652/21 "2015-01-16T15:47:36Z")
But you have a classroom full of students more than capable of moving the sofa to any location you desire! As does the next teacher to use the room. So…why is this even an issue? Do people get fired for moving a couch out of the way? Would another teacher chastise you for moving it? Be brave. Move the couch. ---
**Author:** ![Archeonomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Archeonomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archeonomist)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652/22 "2015-01-16T15:53:56Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Resisting the urge to make a Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency reference . . . Adams must have had a thing for sofas. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652/23 "2015-01-16T16:01:21Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > (You may discover it’s just there so someone can watch media comfortably when the classroom is not in use!) That would be my bet. Someone used the room and projector for a ‘movie night,’ maybe with a couple of friends and some popcorn. They probably pulled the couch in from that nook around the corner, and didn’t bother to put it back. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652/24 "2015-01-16T16:04:29Z")
1. Have students move sofa to the front of the classroom 2. Have them turn it to face the room 3. You kick back on sofa and teach in comfort. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652/25 "2015-01-16T16:29:02Z")
I’d nail it to the ceiling, along with an end table and lamp. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652/26 "2015-01-16T18:14:11Z")
Attach it to the ceiling with tackle so it can be easily raised out of your way (and the swinging action would make potential unsavory use less practical). ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652/27 "2015-01-16T18:59:13Z")
Sofa, so good… ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652/28 "2015-01-16T19:26:13Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Resisting the urge to make a Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency reference . . . Right there with you, as soon as I saw the thread title! ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652/29 "2015-01-16T20:02:24Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Attach it to the ceiling with tackle so it can be easily raised out of your way (and the swinging action would make potential unsavory use less practical). I think you misspelled “make potentially unsavory use **much more fun** ”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652/30 "2015-01-16T20:44:32Z")
I recall the sofa (“chesterfield”) as being at the beginning of _Life, the Universe and Everything_, though my memory may be faulty. It had to do with a cricket match, a SEP (“Somebody Else’s Problem”) field and bistromathics. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652/31 "2015-01-16T22:38:32Z")
Yup. And it was halfway up an entry staircase in **Dirk Gently**. > [@Archeonomist](#): > > Adams must have had a thing for sofas. Possibly true. I don’t think he had a third series that he could have failed to add one to. I’d also say he had a thing for baths and making sandwiches, especially when missing deadlines. Not that I recall any mention of either in the second series. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652/32 "2015-01-17T01:29:24Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Yup. And it was halfway up an entry staircase in **Dirk Gently**. Perhaps the OP’s sofa is also incapable of being moved from its current position… ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652/33 "2015-01-17T01:43:42Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Exactly. > > But IMO it’s better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission. So just move it. > > If it moves back, now at least you know there’s somebody else who wants it that other way. Then you can find them and negotiate a plan. Which may simply be “Each moves it where they want it for their class.” This. Move it and take on a “What, who me?” innocent face. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652/34 "2015-01-17T03:49:49Z")
> [@DaphneBlack](#): > > Any suggestions for how I can make use of a giant sofa, other than asking burly students to heave it out of the way every class, and asking everyone else to drag their desks over, would be much appreciated. Kill it with fire. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652/35 "2015-01-17T03:58:27Z")
Perhaps the sofa was put there as an accommodation to some student who has a disability that needs to elevate their feet or can’t sit at a hard desk. Don’t make assumptions. Don’t move the sofa either. If you get some kids to do it and someone hurts themselves, you and the university will be in hot water. Also, I am sure there is some department at your university in charge of physical plant. If you start rearranging classrooms, that will surely cause a union grievance to be filed. Look in your school directory. There must be some listing for something like physical plant, classroom services, building maintenance, or something like that. They are far more likely to know what the sofa is doing there than some random stranger on the internet. Give them a call. If someone put it there without permission, they will be glad that you told them and want to do something about it. If it is there for a reason, they can also tell you. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652/36 "2015-01-17T04:31:33Z")
The creative writing teacher put there so that he could assign his students the task of writing a story about how it got there and why it is still there. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652/37 "2015-01-17T04:40:04Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > “Pivot!” I see what you did there, Ross. ---
**Author:** ![Archeonomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Archeonomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archeonomist)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652/38 "2015-01-17T10:11:24Z")
Could it be a Dire Straits song? “Get your sofa away from me” ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652/39 "2015-01-17T10:37:48Z")
> [@Archeonomist](#): > > Could it be a Dire Straits song? > “Get your sofa away from me” Or [Carole King “Sofa Away”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqcG9nphA_Y)? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652/40 "2015-01-17T12:46:22Z")
You don’t suppose every Sunday night at 8 (7 central), an ugly yellow family comes running in to watch TV, do you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicable-sofa/709652.md?page=3)