Ikea and Temple Grandin

I had my very first Ikea shopping experience today and arrived home in a state of utter shock-and-awe.  I wasn't sure what just happened, where I had just come from, or what to make of the entire experience.  My good friend, Michaela, and I left at 10am and arrived home at 2pm; from what I understand, four hours was a reasonably decent amount of time to have walked the two miles through the store.  Wow.  


I'm not sure if I liked it or hated it.  


After watching the one of the latest episodes of 30 Rock, in which Liz Lemon and her boyfriend, Chris, visit an Ikea together, I have to say I was a little nervous to go.  I described the actual building as a "giant, blue skyscraper fallen over on its side."  It was gargantuan.  Mammoth.  Titanic.  


When we went inside, after purchasing our $0.99 lattes, Michaela and I went to the starting line.  It wasn't a race, but it was.  It was so strange.  The tensions were high.  Not between Michaela and I, thankfully, but between every romantically involved couple that made their way through the rat-maze.  On multiple occasions I even overheard women on their cellphones snapping at their husbands/boyfriends/partners who weren't even IN the store about what to buy.  I mean, really, it runs deep.


So, my theory of the freaky Swedish jungle that Ikea has created is that they totally stole Temple Grandin's idea for moving livestock - err - people.  

Livestock have wide angle vision....Loading ramps and handling chutes should have solid side walls to prevent animals from seeing distractions outside the chute with their wide angle vision. Moving objects and people seen through the sides of a chute can cause balking or frighten livestock. Solid side walls are especially important if animals are not completely tame or they are unaccustomed to the facility. Blocking vision will stop escape attempts. This is why a solid portable panel is so effective for handling pigs. Sight restriction will lower stress levels. The wildest cow will remain calm in a darkened artificial...box which completely blocks vision. (Found here).

Just like this:

"Checkout" is right.