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Mr. Brown |
Well, that didn't take too long. And now the living room. |
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Mr. Turner |
Let's get at it, then. |
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Mr. Brown |
OK. The bookcase should go against the wall in between the door and the picture window. Then, we'll put the plants in front of the window. |
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Mr. Turner |
So the bookcase goes against the wall in between the picture window and the door, and the plants go in front of the window. |
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Mr. Brown |
Yeah, right. OK? Got it? Lift. Right here. Now down. Let's push it back, right against the wall. |
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Mr. Turner |
That takes care of the bookcase. OK, now the plants? |
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Mr. Brown |
Right. They go in front of the picture window. |
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Mr. Turner |
There we go. What's next? |
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Mr. Brown |
Let's put the armchair across from the bookcase. |
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Mr. Turner |
Across from the bookcase? Do you mean on the other side of the room? Near the closet? |
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Mr. Brown |
Uh-huh. Between the wall and the closet. Got it? Up. |
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Mr. Turner |
OK. Over to the corner. There. I'll put the reading lamp beside the armchair. |
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Mr. Brown |
Yes, but not next to the closet. Someone could knock it over opening the closet door. Why not put the lamp on the other side of the armchair? There, it's looking more like home all the time. Now, what about the big couch? |
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Mr. Turner |
Yeah, that's a heavy piece, so let's agree on the position. Why not the middle of the room, facing the picture window? |
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Mr. Brown |
Yes, that seems to be the right place. Ready? OK, lift. Gently, gently. OK, down it goes. What do you think? Is this the middle? |
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Mr. Turner |
I think we should carry it a couple of steps closer to the window. |
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Mr. Brown |
Well, maybe just one more. OK, one step more and then we'll put it down. Lift. Over. Down. Gently, gently. There. |
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Mr. Turner |
You must have the heaviest couch in town. Let's decide where to move the other furniture before we lift any more. |
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Mr. Brown |
Yeah, that's a good idea. What do you say about the stereo? |
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Mr. Turner |
I'd put the turntable in the middle of the empty wall, the wall across from the door and closet. Then, I'd put the two speakers some distance away on each side of the turntable. |
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Mr. Brown |
Yeah, that should sound nice. |
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Mr. Turner |
OK, so we'll put the turntable in the middle of the wall across from the closet. And the speakers, one on each side of the turntable several steps away. |
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Mr. Brown |
Now the small coffee table and the telephone can go in the corner near the speaker. |
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Mr. Turner |
Do you mean the corner in between the speaker and the picture window? |
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Mr. Brown |
No, I mean the corner at the other end of the wall, behind the other speaker. |
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Mr. Turner |
Oh, OK. The small coffee table and telephone go at the other end behind the speaker in the corner. There. That just leaves the television, which we can put in front of the couch. |
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Mr. Brown |
No, thank you. What are we going to do? Watch cops hunt down robbers? That's all we ever do anyway. No, I don't like that arrangement. If the TV's the center of the room, then too much of the family activity will be watching the tube. I don't want my kid to turn into a couch potato. |
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Mr. Turner |
Well, all that space in front of the couch. What'll you put there? |
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Mr. Brown |
The long coffee table, of course. And the proper place for the TV is out of the way, in the last corner between the speaker and the picture window! |
From Suspicious Minds, Begin et al. 1990. New York: Longman