Let There Be Light?

How hard can it be to buy a couple of lamps????

I have two matching lamps in the living room, purchased many years ago to grace my then-new end tables.  They weren't exactly what you would expect me to buy, but I liked them and thought they fit the tables and space.  Through the years, between the dog and the grandkids, they were knocked over a number of times.  The original shades eventually got destroyed which caused me to use smaller substitutes that didn't really fit, but the lamps themselves seemed to be okay.  That is, until a month ago.

A month ago, my grandchildren came for a week's visit.  One evening, my grandson fell asleep on the couch, so I left him there for the night.  He's a thrasher, but I didn't think about that.  When I got up in the morning, the lamp on the end table near his head was on the floor, broken.  The bulb was broken, the base was broken, the socket was bent way out of shape--basically, the lamp was not able to be saved.  My mission, thereafter, was to find two more matching lamps for the living room and give away the one good old one that remained.  How hard can that be?  I have begun to find out!

About a week ago, my pension check came in, and since the cupboard was almost bare, I determined to shop at the new Meijer store in Plainfield for groceries and new lamps.  There were a couple of lamps there (only two) that I somewhat liked, so I put them in my cart, then picked two shades of the mix 'n match variety that said they would go with the lamps.  Took them home to unpack a couple of days later.  Uh oh...no harps!  (In case you don't know what the harps are, I will explain that they are the metal arches that hold up the lamp shade.)  I have never, ever bought a lamp that didn't come with a harp, so I went back to Meijer to complain.  They told me that harps are sold separately these days. All I had to do was go back to the lamp department to pick up a couple.  Which I did...but the lamp harps didn't come anywhere close to matching the lamps--lamps were dark brown burnished brass; the harps were silverish brushed stainless...plus they added $10 to the cost of the lamps.  Wow.

I was still determined to make it all come together.  When I put one of the harps on one of the lamps, then tried to put a lamp shade on, it would not work!  The hole in the frame of the lamp shade was bigger than the spot on the harp that would hold it.  No way it would happen.  Nothing to do but take it all back to Meijer.

I did that today.  I told the gal at the Customer Service Desk that this was a bigger problem than merely giving me my money back and restocking the shelves.  They were going to have more customer concerns based on the fact that the harps and lamp shades don't match the lamps that they are selling, but I took my money and went to Target to see what lamp offerings they had.  (Unfortunately, not much.  Their lamps were uglier; their harps also not matching and more expensive!)  I could have shopped elsewhere, but my stamina was already taxed.  I went home empty-handed.

I guess I'm a little bit shocked about where things have gone in the whole lamp thing.  I've never, ever, bought a lamp that didn't come with a harp.  And I've always trusted the mix 'n match thing, whereby the vendors promised stuff would go together.  Yeah, right!

Why am I writing about this?  Just so you'll be aware.  Unless you are someone who can purchase the high-dollar items where illumination is concerned, you are subject to the same surprises as I.  Once bitten, twice shy!