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Lonely Chairs

The room was small, probably about twice the size of a typical dorm room. But this room was in an academic building, actually in the basement. It was used primarily for meetings. I was sitting here, waiting to see if any of my students would show up today.

As I sat there, I let my mind wander. I noticed the chairs on the other side of the table. They were plushy and their bright colors had now faded. They had once been purple, orange, red, and blue. For some reason there were more purple chairs in here than any other. Mixed in among these chairs were some wooden chairs. Thus the room had a diversity of chair options.

The upholstery of some of the plushy chairs was coming detached in places, making it look like a bubble was under the cloth. For some reason I felt a tinge of sadness upon observing this. I thought back to the person that ordered these chairs years ago. They must have been excited either at the chairs themselves or at the anticipated response that coworkers would have to the chairs. Who knows, perhaps a whole group of people was at one time excited about these chairs. But now, the chairs sit quietly in a seldom used room in the basement of an academic building.

I know the chairs have no feelings, but I think the sadness I felt was for the person or people that at one time regularly used these chairs. Are they the kind of people that would feel some sadness that their old chair now sat in a basement? Or would they have no feelings at all? And think of all the stories these chairs could tell! Not just the events that unfolded in front of them, but the stories that were told by those sitting in them.

I suppose there are other chairs that have suffered worse fates. At least these chairs are still in use, they still have some life. They are able to comfort the bottoms of those in academic meetings and of students trying to grasp new concepts. So, even though their colors have faded, their use has declined, and they have bubbles, they are still active. I hope that the same can be same for me when my hair has greyed, I have retired, and I have wrinkles.