Thursday, May 22, 2014

my floors and rug are spotless ... and it only took 2 hours of awkward

I was in the middle of working out early yesterday evening when someone knocked on my door. Of course. Because this was the night I chose to wear just a sports bra on top for my work out. After scurrying to the bedroom to pull on the most convenient top (a fleece jacket of all things), I opened the door to 2 college-age guys holding a stack of promotional somethings.

The first thing one of them said was, "Have you been working out?"

I wanted to be offended, but realized I probably looked this harried before working out. and it would have been a lot worse to have the question put to me then.

Turns out they were from Kirby. The vacuums, not the game. I thought they were offering to clean my rug for free. 15 minutes.

Of course, I figured they'd have all the promotional, try-to-sell-you stuff piece at the end. But since Isis has spent the last 10 months spitting up profusely on our rug, I figured it was a good deal.

The 15 minutes actually meant that it would be 15 minutes before they came back to get started. This was good, because I still had 8 minutes left of my workout.

The Kirby duo knocked on my door as I was doing my cool down (read: washing the dishes). They brought in the most complicated vacuum I have ever seen and spent the next 2 hours vacuuming and shampooing my rug and my entire living room, kitchen, and dining room floor. (Don't get too excited - my whole house is only 950 square feet.)

While I sat there.

Watching.

It was weird. They were demoing the vacuum, so I felt like I had to sort of participate. I mean, I wasn't paying them. I wasn't going to buy anything. At least I could ... pay attention ... ???

Plus, they were strangers. I didn't want to give them too much breathing room.

What does one do in this situation?

I picked 3 behaviors and rotated through them.


  1. Thoughtful attention. This meant watching the guy vacuum and change attachments while nodding and commenting on the superiority of the product. 
  2. Assistance.. You know, important things like lifting the rug corners, picking up loose papers and toys. and wiping all the spilled milk from the table before it dripped down onto the clean floor below. I also got the guy a glass of water.
  3. iPad cruising. Trying to find something interesting and useful to do on the ipad so I had the mobility to stay out of the way / keep an eye on things, but also feel productive.

You know, in many ways it felt like going to my first completely awkward first dance as a 14 year old.

But, man, does my rug look awesome.

5 comments:

Megan said...

Reading this made me feel awkward for you, but I definitely could never turn down a free 2 hour floor cleaning.

Sherry said...

This is so awesome. I bought a carpet shampooer (a Bissell) a few years ago, and I have never looked back. It has been such a good investment. But I doubt I would ever buy something as expensive as a Kirby.

Unknown said...

Wow! I personally think that that takes the cake on “the most awkward moment” ever. Haha! It must have been really awkward watching those two guys washing and cleaning your rug for almost two hours while you just sat there. But hey, you’re right, at least now your rugs look awesome. Hahaha! :))

Don Arslanian @ Arslanian Bros

little red hen said...

Erin, you are sooooo funny!! They just came to my door last week...I flat out said No, since the last time they came (our old house) I said Yes, and they took so long I had to frantically get them out the door while a realtor waited outside my house with a client to show our home. Yes, that was when I had toddlers too, and really needed that carpet cleaned!! Happy you have a clean rug!!

Dawn said...

I hope by now you've had several really good days. Maybe in a row!