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The Celtics

Many years ago as young marrieds, Alice and I bought a set of Scandinavian bookshelves and cabinets for our first apartment. They were, we were told, easy to put together.

We took delivery, opened the boxes, and admired the smooth, well-crafted pieces of wood. Then we found the printed directions. They were in Swedish. The resulting shelves and cabinets were none too sturdy.

The Celtics remind me of those bookshelves. It doesn't do any good for optimists to admire the smooth, shiny pieces lying on the living room rug. Their assembly remains a problem locked in an untranslatable language. The resulting product can't bear the slightest weight.

posted by Michael Gee @ 9:47 AM