Camping at the Portland IKEA
Photo: Noelle Crombie/The Oregonian

IKEA opened a store this week here in Portland and I cannot believe the mayhem surrounding the "event". People were sleeping outside the store since Monday, presumably lured by the promise of free chairs to the first 100 customers through the door. The chairs are only worth $149. So, apparently 48 hours of their time is only worth about $149. That's pathetic.

What is with people? Why do they have to wait in line for days for a store to open? In the case of this IKEA, people could've taken that time to drive 2 and a half hours to the IKEA up in Auburn, Washington. Are they doing this to say they "were part of something"? I don't consider waiting for a store to open as "being part of something"-- at least, not something important. I can't imagine people proudly telling their grandchildren about the time they waited in line for two days for a giant box store to open.

Now, I love IKEA. A significant number of pieces of furniture in my house come from IKEA (coffee table, entertainment stand, a couple of extra chairs, lamps, and the couch and desks in my office). So, my problem here isn't with IKEA. It's with the people who are so brainwashed by mass consumerism that they consider the opening of a retail store to be a major event. The store is going to be open for decades, people.

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