Beattys Overseas

Getting tied upWe were walking home from errands the other day when we turned onto our street, Juncal, and we saw a pair of young guys tying huge, cartoon-like ropes around a sofa, covered in moving blankets.  I immediately recognized that they were planning to hoist this sofa to an apartment window, as it's the only way to get large pieces of furniture into old apartments without cutting them up.  Many older buildings have small elevators or none at all, so if the unit has a large front-facing window, the ol' Heave-Ho is the only way to get that new sofa into one's living room. 

John wasn't interested, so he went back to our apartment while I stood on the corner, in front of our nearest coffeehouse, watching 'Operation Sofa'.  The boys secured some pretty serious-looking knots on the couch, then one of them disappeared into the building, only to reappear again at a seventh floor balcony.  Seventh Floor!?!  I had to see this.  Another man stood with the kid on the balcony, which had the other ends of the sofa ropes looped around its banister. 

And away we go!Uno, dos, tres, and suddenly, the sofa was 10 inches off the ground.  The boy on the sidewalk just kinda stood there, looking up at the guys pulling, since his job didn't involve much at this point.  He got busy, however, when the sofa was getting higher towards the first floor of apartments.  Boy on the sidewalk held two ropes that laid against the back of the sofa, using them to guide the heavy item away from the building's facade. 

As I watched, my neck craned upwards to watching the men Heave-Hoeing, a few other pedestrians joined me in watching.  An older guy who spoke a little English saw me with the camera and noted that it was a good photo op.  "It's very telling of this City's old-fashioned systems," he said.  Then he tapped his hat at me and disappeared.  I might mention that he was the Argentine version of Truman Capote. But taller.  Anyway, back to the sofa.

Almost there.....!When it was hovering around the fourth floor, a pair of children appeared at the window, giggling at the site of this huge thing dangling in front of their apartment.  They reached their little hands out to touch the ropes, while the boy on the sidewalk yelled and cursed at them.  He was, at this point, standing in the middle of the street, temporarily stopping traffic.  He needed so much leverage to guide the sofa away from other apartments' balconies and windows that he was standing 15 feet away from the very sidewalk where this operation began.  When the sofa finally reached the top, the two guys hoisted it over the balcony and my show was over.  What a fun performance. Plus, it was a free show, and I had a front row seat. 

- Whitney