A couple posts back, I mentioned how Gordon is kind and how he is a hard worker. Those words seem quite flat, but to drive home the significance of those traits, here's a true story. Only Gordon Dykstra.....
Office Furniture
Several years ago an acquaintance, named Louie, phoned and asked Gordon if he knew of any charitable organization that would like some office furniture to sell. Gordon immediately thought of our neighborhood Baptist church. Gordon had enjoyed a visit with the pastor the week before. Pastor Ralph confided in Gordon that there was lots of complaining and grumbling happening in his church regarding the Vacation Bible School budget.
Gordon phoned Pastor Ralph and told him that Safeway recently remodeled their office building and they were giving away the office furniture they had taken out. To Gordon and Pastor Ralph this sounded like the perfect scenario for supplying the needed funds for VBS. Both men were praising the Lord. “Wow, what an answer to prayer.” Everyone was being blessed. Louie from Safeway was getting rid of all the office furniture, the church was going to capitalize on it by having an office furniture sale on the parking lot, and Gordon was thrilled to be apart of something so wonderful.
As Gordon and I were enjoying a cup of tea one evening, Safeway’s Louie phoned to verify that Ralph understood it was a full semi trailer. Gordon phoned Ralph to confirm. Pastor Ralph was excited, “Sure, that’s just more money.” Gordon got off the phone with Ralph and started dialing Louie. I was feeling very uncomfortable that Gordon was triangulating the whole thing. I told him he should back out and let the two men work with each other.
Later Louie phoned Gordon to make arrangements for the Safeway trailer to be delivered to the parking lot. I was in the background yapping, “Just give him Pastor Ralph’s phone number.”
The full size truck trailer was brought to the church parking lot on Monday morning. Mondays are Pastor Ralph’s day off, so he asked Gordon to be there to show the driver where to park the trailer. Safeway was gracious; they agreed to let the trailer stay there till Friday. This was going to give the church plenty of time to unload its contents.
Early Tuesday morning, Pastor Ralph called. “Gordon this isn’t what I expected. There’s no way I can sell all this stuff. My church is full of seniors and no one is strong enough to help. I had back surgery a few years back so I sure can’t lift that stuff. What can you do to get rid of this stuff?”
For the next three days Gordon (with a little help from me) hauled every imaginable piece of office furniture and equipment to our backyard. Pastor Ralph popped his head in the trailer ever so often to see the progress and say a heartfelt, “I’m really sorry about this.” His church folks drove by, honked, and waved. I smiled and waved back, gritting my teeth so they couldn’t read my lips.
Although I did a sizable amount of work, my work was miniscule compared to Gordon’s. Gordon would do his 8 hours at his paying job and then come home and haul furniture till bedtime. He never complained. (I complained enough for 2, or 3 or 5 or 10). Gordon buckled down to work. He persevered. From the kitchen window I watched him haul desks, credenzas and tables down the alley. Over and over and over. He got the trailer emptied, just in time for Safeway to come and get it.
My favorite place to be in the summer, my backyard, was the new home to 32 desks, 10 filing cabinets, and a plethora of office chairs (circa 1960-1990’s). There was a copier, tables, a first aid couch that I affectionately dubbed the psychiatrist’s couch, outdated equipment – postage equipment, rubber stamps that read “received,” “paid,” “overdue” and other billing terminology. We found no fewer than 20 staplers. Rubber bands! We will never need to buy rubber bands again. We threw away thousands of those and kept enough for us, our children, and our children’s children. Files still filled with Safeway documents filled many garbage bags.
Each of the girls claimed a backyard desk and set up business. Deborah, who was 3 at the time, put on her play high heels and rubber stamped documents for hours at a time. Rachael and Hannah changed their names to names more suitable to businesswomen. They answered phones, opened mail, stapled important documents, and filled in flow charts for days.
I phoned every charity in the city and every used office furniture store. No one wanted our donation. Louie’s generosity was making more sense all the time.
In desperation we put up signs on the nearest busy streets, “office furniture for sale.” Gordon said if we said to “give away” everyone would think it was junk.
Meanwhile I was breaking down. I lay on the psychiatrist’s couch staring at the clouds talking to the Great Psychiatrist.
All our friends took at least one desk. A few even came to offer emotional support. I laid on the psychiatrist’s couch as my pastor said, “Really Valerie, I understand your overwhelm. I would feel overwhelmed too.” He left with a desk. Our friend Brian came and took a couple desks and shelves. I was measuring all our friendships by how many desks and chairs my friends left with. Our friends Billy and Leanne sat in my backyard and as kindly as they could said, “Valerie we don’t have a place for another desk.” As Leanne spoke consoling words, Billy went behind the garage to look at the “Rumbler”. The Rumbler was the 1972 Ford we inherited when Gordon’s dad died. Billy knew we never used the Rumbler and he needed a junk truck. He asked how much we’d sale it for. I smiled and said, “2 desks and 4 chairs”. He chose his desks and chairs and came and got the truck a few days later.
News of our office furniture sale traveled. Strangers were in my yard daily mulling around and opening desk drawers. People would curiously ask if I was going out of business and I’d answer, “Not as fast as I’d like.”
One biker guy, tattooed and pierced all over, wanted to bargain with me. “How much for those 4 chairs?” he asked. I pulled my eyes from his pierced nipples and said, “$5 each or 8 for $10” He took all 8 and told me I drove a hard bargain. Later he returned with his friend “Lizard”. Lizard wanted a desk. “$35 for the desk or $25 for the desk and that table.” He grinned and said, “Sold”.
After 1½ weeks the traffic quit coming. Gordon began making “night visits” to garbage bins around the city. One night he settled down after his evening drops and couldn’t find his palm pilot. “Oh no, I bet I lost it in one of those dumpsters.” He retraced his steps and found his beloved palm in a carpet store’s garbage bin.
All our friends still laugh when our office furniture sale is mentioned. They say, “That would only happen to Gordon Dykstra”. Brian says his respect for Gordon grew. “I would have dumped it all in the North Saskatchewan River had it been up to me,” he said. If I’d thought of that, I may have considered it myself.
All said and done, we made $320 on our sale. Gordon says it was a blessing in disguise. He is an eternal optimist. I say it was my greatest peril in 2003.
One thing about it, our family will never again need to buy a stapler, paper clips or rubber bands.
Labels: Gordon, office furniture
