Some of you may remember me mentioning that one of our neighbors down the street died not too long ago. He was actually discovered in his house after 4 days, on the day of the lunar eclipse. I remember that clearly only because I had mentioned how a ton of crazy shit happened that day.
Anyway, yesterday, the old man's son held an estate sale at the house. These are always kind of weird because they actually let you go into the house and just buy whatever you see lying around. It feels kind of creepy and sad to realize this was someone's life, and you're just rooting around trying to find a bargain.
But they had this really awesome sectional leather sofa for sale. Not that we really need a new sofa because ours is just fine. But it was really cheap and looked almost brand new. That's the kind of deal you have to stop and think about for a minute. The retail price was probably at least 5 grand or more, and they were asking $150. That's a steal!
We both sat on it and contemplated whether or not we wanted to rid ourselves of the big green couch in favor of this one. The leather was nice and soft and the cushions were squishy and comfortable. I really liked it and Natalie was almost sold on it.
But then our neighbor from across the street showed up at the sale. He saw us sitting on the couch and he asked me if we were gonna buy it. I told him I was considering it and he pulled me aside and said, "um, you don't want that couch...." I laughed and assumed he wanted it for himself and was trying to steal it out from under us. But then he tells me, "that's where Joe died....he was sitting on that couch for 4 days, dude."
Oh my God. I was sitting on a couch where a dead guy sat for 4 days! That's disgusting! And I almost shelled out money to put that thing in my house. *shudders* Needless to say, we did not buy the sofa. That's just wrong. Don't dead people start to smell and leak stuff after sitting for 4 days?? Blech! I don't think any amount of cleaner could possibly erase the memory of dead person juices from upholstery.
Am I being ridiculous here? Would you buy a piece of furniture if you knew someone died on it? And worse yet, that they sat there untouched for several days on that piece of furniture? I just couldn't do it. Even if I saw no evidence of stains or smelled anything weird. But still. Our house is already haunted, and what if the couch is haunted too? Our ghost might not like the new couch ghost, and then it'd be mayhem.
But we did buy some surround sound speakers and a few pictures and some pots and pans. I think those items were safe. Hopefully.....
evil_twin posted on Mar 17, 2008
| views: 580
Comments
-
quietone said on Mar 17, 2008....
Oh, boy, that was the first thing i though of when I started reading about the couch. What would your friendly ghost have to"say" about that!! I don't think it would have liked an outsider. I do know how weird it is about furniture as my mother died in her recliner I don't know how long she was sitting in it there, but my daughter has the recliner, I can't sit in it... I didn't tell her that is where they found my mother.. Oh, I am so bad. I don't know if it would bother her or not, maybe some day I will tell her. (there were not bodily fluids) -
silverwhisper said on Mar 17, 2008....
i have to say, i would not be buying a guy's temporary resting place, dude. i dunno, i don't usually get squeamish about much, but the stuff that i do--[shudders]
yeah, i'd have thanked the guy profusely, and promptly moved on to something else!
definitely not ridiculous, if you ask me!
ed -
the_infernal_optimist said on Mar 17, 2008....
I wouldn't have bought it either. That's creepy as hell, and gross too!
[shudders]
Just...eww. And no. It would have been a LOT worse if you'd bought it and found out later!
~Infernal
-
uniquely-ironic said on Mar 17, 2008....
That's creepy and I'm not easily creeped out. I'd imagine 4 days without refrigeration would result in some decay and from all the things I've heard from ambulance medics, etc. the smell of death would be impossible to get rid of. Good thing the neighbor was there to warn you, and shame on the son. -
botoni said on Mar 17, 2008....
Odd man out is going to be my position here. I would have bought it without hesitation once I had reassured myself that there were no stains or odors. To me its only furniture irrespective of its history. I d rationalize a bit and contemplate the number of people who have died on a hospital bed that I ve been assigned to or the people who ve died in homes in which I ve lived. Like Quiet I wouldnt be telling my guests the history of the sofa though. -
GracefullyGrowing said on Mar 17, 2008....
"Don't dead people start to smell and leak stuff after sitting for 4 days?? Blech! I don't think any amount of cleaner could possibly erase the memory of dead person juices from upholstery. "
-
hinana said on Mar 17, 2008....
lol oh gross.but im assumign that if you guys sat on it for that long, and didnt notice anythign the sofa itself isnt so bad?but just teh fact he was there that long i guess, is what makes it gross.thats a bummer htough, that woulda been a good bargain =P -
Zayda said on Mar 17, 2008....
eww...okay, i got the heebie jeebies just reading that you sat on the sofa. yuck!
i'm glad you didn't buy it. that's just creepy, and gross.
ewww...
if he had just died on it and not been on it for 4 days, i don't think it would bother me, but the fact that he was there on that sofa for 4 days...
[shudder] -
diabolicdame said on Mar 17, 2008....
Yuck!! I cant even believe that was for sale! Gross! And I have read about the music playing ghost in your house. Old people and loud music don't mix well usually. So I think you saved yourself some ghostly trouble by deciding against the sofa! Eeewww..
-
evil_twin said on Mar 17, 2008....
quietone--You know, my grandfather died on his couch too, but he wasn't there very long before my dad found him. But I still didn't want the couch myself. We gave it to Goodwill. So I guess someone out there might be sitting on my grandfather's death couch too.....
silver--It grossed me out too! It just seemed very wrong to me...
infernal--I'm glad we found out before I opened my wallet! :-P
uniquely--I did not smell anything, but still. The entire concept was just too gross for me!
botoni--I guess I can see your point. But I'm the type of person who can get freaked out if I think too much about who slept in a hotel bed and what they did in it the night before! So knowing someone died on a couch, I just couldn't do it....
grace--That sentence is pretty barfworthy huh?
hinana--I didn't smell anything, but it was just the idea that he'd been sitting on it for 4 entire days. Yuck!
Zayda--Yes, exactly! The length of time he sat there was the kicker. If it had been a few minutes or something, it wouldn't matter. But 4 days? Ugh.
diabolic--Yeah, I don't know if the possible couch ghost would like our spooky music either! -
GrapeKoolaid said on Mar 17, 2008....
You reminded me of a funny story from my past about my friend buying a suit at the second hand store... I'll blog about it someday.
Let's just say that the punch line goes, "He probably died in it".
And yes, dead people "leak" stuff after they pass, including, but not limited to, fliuds and gases. Sometimes, they'll exhale their last breath long after they've passed, and the vocal chords will catch the air in a post-mort "moan". It's like a zombie's groan...
-
evil_twin said on Mar 17, 2008....
Grape--That is really gross...do dead people whistle too? Because right before they found this guy sitting on the couch, we heard ghostly whistling in our kitchen. Like someone trying to get our attention. So maybe he used his last breath to whistle at us and tell us not to buy the couch? :-P I'd be worried about buying a second hand suit that someone might have died in....you should write that blog! -
Mamie said on Mar 17, 2008....
oh dear Lord, I am crying I am laughing so hard. BACK AWAY FROM THE COUCH!! I would have yelled!! I agree that your ghost likely would have balked at the new couch ghost idea... teehhehehehehehe!! And that picture by Grace, has me rolling.......um, pardon me, I am sorry for the poor guy! mamie -
Fallyn said on Mar 17, 2008....
i can totally understand.
but i have to admit it made me laugh.
especially the part about the couch ghost not getting along with the other
i don't think it would bother me that much.....but...i'm just strange that way. *shrug*
-
Expendable said on Mar 17, 2008....
I was in this intensive care unit and found out that everybody who'd been lying in my bed on Fridays always died around 11 am. Very scary. So Friday morning, I'm getting really scared and there's a bunch of people come to watch, the sick bastards. Then the janitor comes in to plug in his floor buffer and unplugs my life support.Stupid bastard. -
wombat said on Mar 17, 2008....
Well more than one of us is on the ball--that was the first thing I thought of also--about bringing such an item into a place you already think is a little "too much lived in" so to speak. I wouldn't have bought it either, I don't believe. (I am continually amazed at your interesting life there, you two!) But anyway, I do remember that when I was little (about 4) we moved into my grandmother's house after she passed away, and I slept in the bed she died in. At the time, I wasn't aware of this or rather was too young to be thinking about it, but years later it occured to me--I slept for about 6 years in that bed that I had seen her body in that day the black hearse came and picked her up. -
dailyachesandpains said on Mar 17, 2008....
I too was wondering how Casper would have thought about another spirit being around! Then, I almost puked...FOUR freaking dead days on that. I don't know if I could buy anything that someone was dead on for 5 minutes!SO glad you didn't buy it, SO glad!!!Daily -
Expendable said on Mar 17, 2008....
DId he actually die on that couch or did he want it for himself? -
allswell said on Mar 17, 2008....
Omg! I would have had chills for days thinking i might have sat where a man died at! That's so gross...and i agree there is no way i would have bought it either! lol..
alls:)
-
evil_twin said on Mar 17, 2008....
mamie--I think it's best if we keep our ghost happy. He lets us live in his house, but he might not like it if Joe came to live with us too!
fallyn--It was a nice couch, so I'm sure someone who didn't find it gross probably bought it! But I didn't stick around to find out.
Expendable--That was an interesting story! And yeah, I really think the guy died on the couch. I knew he was dead in there somewhere, but it didn't occur to me where it happened. But my other neighbor didn't buy the couch, so I think he was telling the truth.
wombat--Our lives are just crazy huh? I suppose not many people would worry about buying a haunted couch, just so the ghost they already have, doesn't get mad. We're weird! You know, I might feel different if it was someone I knew who died. And if they hadn't been there for DAYS. But I don't know....
daily--I know! 4 days! That's just really gross to think about. I'm glad we didn't buy it either!
alls--It was a creepy feeling, that's for sure. I want my couch to be relaxing, not scary!
-
wakingharmony said on Mar 17, 2008....
Hey guy! just stopped in to say hi ..still alive but so sick but need to sa Hi to my Buds! Tell Nurse I said Hi and give her a hug for me w/o the germs! -
soleme said on Mar 18, 2008....
LOL!, Just wondering what would you have done if you purchased the sofa AND then found out it's history?
Four days is to long, I'm glad your neighbor warned you.
Are you still hearing music in your room, do you think it was a message from your neighbor, calling out for help, "Hey!, come check on me."
Sorry for all the questions.
-
RollingC said on Mar 18, 2008....
I don't know what to say on that. I certainly don't like the idea that he'd been on the sofa for that long but like Botoni says, if you didn't notice any odors or stains on it then maybe there weren't any to begin with or had been thoroughly cleaned off. * shrugs *
Rc -
Mr_Box said on Mar 18, 2008....
Yeah, that's gross. I think it would bother me a lot less if he hadn't been sitting there for so long. But I would have passed on the purchase too.Because even if the couch was in tip top shape, I'd always think about the dead guy sitting there every time I parked my ass on it. The vibe of the couch would just be all wrong.In closing, I think this is the funniest and most disturbing phrase I've heard lately: "dead person juices". There's a gross mental picture! -
queenparanoia said on Mar 19, 2008....
ohmygod that's gross!!! thank god you didnt bought it!!! although it would be fun if two ghost were in youre house arguing about it... lol... =)
Comment on "Dead man's sofa..."
Related Posts: