The Right Office Chair

I needed to get a new chair for my office. I figured it would be a simple thing to look in the online catalog, quickly pick one out, and take advantage of the free delivery. Easy. Wrong!

The online catalogs of the national office store chains showed all kinds of chairs...way too many choices to make it easy. I saw big chairs, little chairs, brown chairs, black chairs, work station chairs, manager's chairs, executive's chairs, secretary's chairs, customer's chairs, chairs with arms, chairs without arms, computer chairs, leather chairs, wooden chairs, ugly chairs, pretty chairs, high back chairs, low back chairs, swivel chairs, ergonomic chairs, etc. Decisions, decisions!

It's been a number of years since I have needed a new chair. I had forgotten all the factors involved in making such a titanic decision. After studying the catalogs for a while, I decided to drive to the store so I could actually look at the chairs and even sit down in some different ones to see how they felt.

I made my way over to the office furniture section of the store and looked at the huge selection of chairs. A salesman came over and asked "What are you looking for in a chair?" I thought about it for a few seconds and told him that I needed a chair to sit in. He then inquired "Do you want an executive's chair or a manager's chair?" I took that as a compliment, figuring that I must look like a person possessing some level of authority. I asked him to explain the differences between a manager's chair and an executive's chair. After his explanation, my eyes caught a glimpse of a very comfortable looking chair on the next row. I walked over to the comfortable looking chair and sat down. Wow...it felt great! The salesman immediately told me that it was definitely not the right chair for me, that it was a secretary's chair. I asked him what he thought my vocation was, and what if I was a secretary? He thought a minute and then quizzed me, "What do you do for a living and exactly how are you planning to use the chair?" I told him that I am a musician, and that I needed a chair to sit in when I am in my office. He replied, "Oh...so you really don't work. Any of these chairs would be alright for you". I told him to get me the black president's chair, the ridiculously expensive one made with the real Corinthian leather Ricardo Montalbán used to talk about.