This story starts with a couch...
When I was working at a different storage company in California, a lady cam up to me and said "I moved out of my unit, but I left a couple items in there that I don't want... You can keep everything in there if you want; my couch is actually perfect for you!" Normally we have to tell people that they can't leave stuff in their unit, but my coworker and I decided to let the elderly lady leave the items on the property. We went and took a look at the stuff she left behind, and I did fall in love with the couch. It was a short boxy-looking couch from IKEA and it was brand new.
I took the couch and put it in my storage unit, and kept it there until I moved out with Nick sometime later. I eventually took the legs off of the couch and set it directly on the floor, making it a just my size couch (I don't know if you know this, but I'm very short, and my legs are stubby!). A lot of people who would come over laughed at how they had to "fall" onto the couch just to sit on it.
Tragedy struck, and my youngest cat went into heat. She started urinating on everything in the house, especially my couch. We couldn't afford to get her fixed, so we suffered through her continuous obnoxiousness for several months. Every time she would pee on the couch, we'd get out the pet urine remover and clean it, but as time went on, the smell refused to go away, and then the stains (it was a white couch). By the time we got little Loki fixed, the couch had been soaked so many times by her and the urine remover, that the fabric became stiff and uncomfortable. Nick and I refused to even sit on it, which was incredibly sad to me, because I've never found a couch quite like that one, and I was somewhat attached.
We were at a loss as to what to do with the couch. Nobody wanted it and it was taking up room in our living room. The dump was too expensive, and we didn't want to just leave it out by our apartment dumpster for maintenance to take care of. The dumpster was too small and had a very short opening of which we could slide garbage into, so it was then I had the notion to rip the couch into shreds.
I didn't want to do it by myself, so as the idea stewed in my head I developed an event for my friends to participate in. I called it the Destruction Day Picnic!
I invited my friends over, encouraging them to bring a dish for a pot luck, and tools that could be used for domestic level destruction (since I have neighbors, chainsaws would be inappropriate). The plan was to rock out to some upbeat inspiring music while taking out all our negative emotions on the couch in my living room, then once the debris was clears, we would have a pot luck picnic on the spot which my couch used to be!
Friends were using the words 'genius' and 'brilliant,' and were getting me all excited about my idea. We scheduled the demolition for November 16th in the evening. That day I went to work as usual, but I couldn't get my mind off of the festivities. I thought "If this event is a success, I should do one every year!" Don't get me wrong, I was still sad about the tragic forthcoming death of my couch, but my couch had a good life and was loved, and when it died completely it let us set free those negative emotions, and gave us peace! There's really nothing like that kind of sacrifice! :::sniffle sniffle:::
I figured that people give away furniture that's on its last legs, for free on Craigslist all the time, so maybe once a year I will find such a piece to be the 'main course' for an annual Destruction Day! I thought up so many games and activities to do: Bubble Wrap Stomp, Balloon Darts, Rock in a Glass Vase Toss, Glass Breaking, Burning Barrel of Unwanted Articles, Paint Grenades, Pinatas, Shooting chipped plates or something with those soft shell or whatever guns, Broken Figurine Bowling, and of course, tearing apart the dying furniture. I also thought about shredding papers, and how I could use those at the beginning of the festivities to make 'bean' bag chairs for everyone to flop down on after the exertion! Maybe settle down and play some jenga, have some wine and a picnic... The idea is so glorious to me!
We live in a difficult time, with so much stress, that we need to take vacations from our lives just to catch a break--and that's if we're lucky enough to be able to take a vacation! I think that last night helped me a lot, when I gave in to my angered and stressed out emotions and let them wreck havoc on my little couch. I aimed all of that energy towards an object that was unusable and was going to be thrown out anyway, and I felt so good!
The evening started out as a drag though... I had invited a dozen people, and the only ones who were there were Nick, my very good friend Nicole, and myself. Everyone else canceled; good reasons of course, illness, no gas, no car, school, etc. I feel bad that they missed this event. Nick, Nicole and I had a blast ripping apart the couch with nothing but a box cutter, a screw driver and a hammer! I think that even though it didn't happen the way I wanted it to, I think I should still organize an annual event. I need to give others another chance so that they know the feelings I felt and maybe they'll feel that relief too! I feel that I can give everyone that one day of stress relief, which amounts to an exhilarated vacation, and I want to do it!
I'm going to need a bigger area with less carpet for next years Destruction Day, and I should start collecting the broken items for the festivities soon. Also, I think it would be better if done outdoors, so maybe a day in the summer instead of autumn when we're expecting snow... Anyone have a date in mind?
I also much think of some prizes! They don't have to be big because the action of contained destruction is a prize in itself, but I still think there should be prizes for these games! I'm excited again, and I can't wait until next years Destruction Day! In the meantime, if you think you might have a donation for one of our destruction courses, please let me know! Suggestions for dates and prizes are also welcome! Oh! and if you have any other game or activity suggestions, that would be awesome!
I'll be posting the pictures from last nights Destruction Day picnic on Facebook in a little while, so be sure to check them out! It was a lot of fun, and I hope you all can come to the next one! If you didn't get an invite to this years, I apologize, but my little apartment can only handle so many people ripping a couch apart, so I only invited a small handful of mine and Nick's friends. Next year will be different! Don't think I don't love you, because I do!
Anyone know of a place where we can make a huge mess next year??? I'll clean it up, I'm not worried about that, I just don't want to damage our surroundings by having the festivities in an enclosed space...
I'll keep you all posted about when the next Destruction Day will be! Tootles!
