So I was walking through the IKEA today, and Five for Fighting's "100 Years" was playing, which, for no particular reason, really, put me in an extraordinarily contemplative mood, and I began thinking about my five years out in the Midwest.

There is only one IKEA in the Chicagoland area, and it is perhaps the only IKEA in a 100 mile radius. Me and my roommate at the time used to make many futile forays there to hunt for furniture that we could afford. Which is stupid, if you stop to think about it. (Some of our best furniture ended up coming from the Salvation Army and from the dumpster outside our apartment.)

And so I had this weird thought (alluding to my diatribe about cookie-cutter chain stores) that, what if these stores were like portals to various location around the United States (and, I suppose, the entire world, even)? Like, let's say I enter the IKEA in Mission Valley (in San Diego) and go out an alternate exit. Given the nearly identical nature of many IKEAs throughout the nation, couldn't I end up somewhere else? Like Chicago (or more accurately, Schaumburg.)

Now before you say anything, look at the title of this entry.