pretty long story about a treadmill
Steve ordered a treadmill, and three weeks ago it was to be delivered. The delivery company came, looked at the route we hoped they would take — through the front door, down the stairs, into the newly titled exercise room. They said that it couldn’t be done. The had taken the 500 pound treadmill out of the truck; they put it back and drove away.
Another delivery company came last week, looked at the route, and said it couldn’t be done. We ordered the biggest treadmill, they said. There’s no way it will fit in your tiny house, I felt they implied. They tried anyway. I said I wouldn’t sign the waiver allowing them to destroy my house without responsibility, and they said they couldn’t get down the stairs because our stairs are under construction and have no railing — if they fall, they said, they’re not allowed to touch the wall because I didn’t sign the waiver and then they would be injured. They carted the beast of a box through the front door, which took a half an hour. They spent another half hour figuring out how to safely slide it across the hallway. I fetched them numerous blankets. They finally said it couldn’t fit through the door to the basement. They weren’t allowed to take the door off unless I signed the waiver. I took the door off for them. Then they said they couldn’t get it downstairs unless they opened the box. They said they could either leave the box there and go or take it back with them. So I signed the waiver. They never tried to open the box. They said they ran out of time and had to go. They took the box with them and ended up leaving a huge scratch in the floor, which they are not responsible for because I signed the waiver.
A third delivery company came yesterday. They looked at the route and said it could not be done. Yes we can. Yes we can, Steve and I chanted at the chorus of No. Let’s just open the box and see if maybe it will fit without the box, Steve said. They said it was too big and unwieldy, that they needed the box to keep it secure. This wasn’t true. We opened the box: the treadmill came in multiple parts and was one foot wide.
There is some moral here. Maybe the fable has already been written. About a group of people who feared they could not climb the huge mountain but discovered upon arriving that it was a hill. This is a story about No and how the Yes inside is so possible, it just takes opening the big scary box.
