This is a story I read in my New Yorker magazine. It's about a woman named Zoe and a pricey sectional sofa she ordered from the Cobble Hill line of ABC Carpet & Home.
As you can see in the photo, it's custom-upholstered in a deep-pink velvet called Vance Blossom.
Not unsurprisingly, due to Covid, there have been delivery delays. The waiting sent Zoe into a bit of a meltdown. She said on Facebook, "I decorated this whole apartment around this very statement-making, coral-colored, massive couch."
(Those of you you've lost your jobs and your grandmas can relate to Zoe's Covid pain. Right?)
Months into the delay Zoe received a personal note of apology from the company's CEO. This was a grand gesture BUT, unfortunately, the note was accidentally cc'd instead of bcc'd to two hundred and three other couch-expectant folks.
Whoops!
The reply-all avalanche started immediately. Frustration crescendoed into anger. "This is an outrage." "I ordered in October. Paid in full!" "This is just ridiculous."
Then a strange thing happened. A woman wrote "Oh come on. Like you've never had a bad day at work because you're exhausted, covid-weary, and stuck with the song 'never eat soggy waffles in your head?'"
This precepited a complete turnaround.
Zoe replied to this group of 203 strangers, "I'm a single woman in NYC looking for a Jewish man." That opened up the floodgates for a total attitude adjustment for this family of complete strangers.
"Looking forward to meeting you at Zoe's wedding."
"I'd invite you all over but I don't have a couch."
The group started a fundraiser on "GoFundMe" for a family in (real) need. Photos were exchanged. When the cargo vessel was blocking the Suez Canal they surmised that their couches were on board.
Jane, an interior designer, who'd ordered the couch for her clients felt guilty so she wrote, "I now wear the Vance Blossom fabric swatch as my scarlet letter."
Henry wrote, "I have just reconnected with my friend Melissa. Now I don't have to go to Zoe's wedding solo." "We're in this struggle together. The couch is minor."
The couch company, ABC, matched the donations raised by GoFundMe. And 204 strangers had their hearts strangely warmed.
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