Episode 22: Shopping for Ergonomic Study Desks — 5,000 Core English Words

📖 This lesson is part of the comprehensive series 5,000 Common English Words Through 46 Real-Life Conversations by Echo Stories English.

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Chapter twenty-two. A desk for the study.

Ryan's company is growing, and it has started a new way of working. From now on, the staff may work from home three days a week. Ryan is pleased, but he has been working at the kitchen table, and his back and his wrist are not happy.

Listen to how people talk about work, and how to ask questions in a store: about size, color, price, and delivery.

Ryan: I got an email from the founder today. It's official. Three days at home, two at the office.

Emma: That's great news. Isn't it?

Ryan: It is. Overall, people are happy. The company is in the middle of an expansion. We're going to launch a new product in the spring, we'll employ thirty more workers, and there isn't enough space for everyone.

Emma: So they share the desks?

Ryan: Exactly. We work in shifts, from a pool of shared desks. It's practical. They also informed us about a bonus, provided we hit our target.

Emma: Look at you. A success story.

Ryan: Don't say that yet. The reality is that I can't work at the kitchen table. I've been doing it for two weeks, and my wrist hurts. I need a real desk and a suitable chair.

Emma: Then let's make the small room upstairs into a study. It's open and bright, and you can close the door.

Ryan: That's my priority. If I don't have a door, I check my email all night.

Emma: Do they pay for the furniture?

Ryan: Up to four hundred dollars. I just have to send them the receipt. I negotiated that part myself.

Emma: My courageous husband. Let's go on Saturday. I know a place.

Staff: Hi there. Welcome. Is there anything in particular you're looking for today?

Ryan: Yes. I'm looking for a desk and a chair for a home office.

Staff: Sure. The office section is right over here. Do you know what size you need?

Ryan: The room is small. I measured it with a tape. The desk can't be wider than one hundred and forty centimeters.

Staff: Then I'd select one of these three. This one is our most popular. Its popularity surprised us. You can raise it and work standing up, then lower it again. It's good for your health.

Emma: How does it go up and down?

Staff: You just press this button. Or, on the cheaper model, you pull this handle and lift.

Ryan: Does it come in any other colors?

Staff: It comes in white, black, and a light wood. The wood one is striking. It's the original design.

Ryan: Is the wood one in stock?

Staff: Let me check for you. One moment. Yes, we have two left.

Ryan: How much is it?

Staff: It's three hundred and twenty dollars. This week, it's twenty percent off.

Emma: And the chairs?

Staff: Follow me. This one is our best seller. The back is custom fit, so you can move it forwards or back. The seat is leather. Go ahead, sit down. Try it.

Ryan: Oh, that's comfortable. Can I adjust the arms?

Staff: Yes. There's a clip on each side. Slide it up, and it locks.

Ryan: It's very good. But a leather chair may be too hot in summer.

Staff: We have the same chair in fabric. It's forty dollars less.

Ryan: I'll take the fabric one. And the wood desk.

Staff: Great choice. Will you take them with you today, or would you like them delivered?

Emma: Is the desk hard to put together?

Staff: Not at all. It takes about an hour. The instructions come in English, with a Spanish translation. None of our customers have complained.

Ryan: I'll try it. But the box won't fit in our car.

Staff: Then we can deliver on Tuesday or Thursday. Delivery is twenty-five dollars.

Ryan: Thursday, please. I'm at home on Thursdays now.

Staff: Perfect. Can I get your name and address?

Ryan: Ryan Johnson, 18 Harbor Lane.

Staff: Thank you. What's your return policy, you were going to ask?

Emma: I was! How did you know?

Staff: Everybody asks. You have thirty days. If anything is incorrect or damaged, we replace it or give you a full refund. Just keep your receipt.

Ryan: Could I get the receipt by email as well? I need it for my job.

Staff: Of course. I'll start that now. Your total comes to four hundred and eighty-one dollars. Would you like to fill in a short questionnaire about your visit? You get five dollars off.

Ryan: Why not. Then I'm twice as happy.

Emma: Do you ever think about how lucky you are? With your job?

Ryan: Sometimes. Why?

Emma: I was reading the newspaper this morning. There was an article, with a lot of detail, about people who are unemployed, and how impossible it is to cope. One woman begged her old company for a part-time job. She wrote a letter to the newspaper. She has two children of her own.

Ryan: That's hard to read.

Emma: It is. And then I think of my father. He was a mechanic, and then for a while he had no work. He was too proud to tell anyone. My aunt only found out by a mere accident.

Ryan: What did she do?

Emma: She didn't show any disapproval. She gave him a job at the dance school, fixing things. It wasn't much, but it gave his life some meaning.

Ryan: I assume a lot. I assume there will always be work. My brother doesn't. He thinks about risk every day. So do firefighters, and soldiers in the military. They put on a helmet and they don't know what the day will bring.

Emma: And you put on headphones.

Ryan: I do. I'm not ashamed of it. But I want to do something with it. Simon and I talked about it. We'd like to devote a few hours a month to a small organization that teaches kids to write code. Kids whose schools don't have computers.

Emma: Ryan, that's a wonderful idea.

Ryan: It isn't profitable. It isn't dynamic. It's just useful. That's what I want to accomplish this year.

Emma: Then I'll help. I can show them how to draw their ideas first. A scientist I met at an exhibition told me that every good invention starts with a bad drawing.

Ryan: Then I'm a great inventor. I apologize in advance to the children.

Emma: Don't apologize. Just start. And upgrade that old laptop, or they'll laugh at you.

Ryan: I'm flying through money today. A desk, a chair, and now a laptop.

Emma: Think of it as a harvest. You worked for it. Then you quote my aunt: "What you acquire, you share."

Ryan: Did she study journalism? She always has a headline.

Emma: No. She's just slow to speak, and usually right. Turn off here. This is our street.

Ryan: I know where we live, thank you. The enthusiasm in this car is surrounding me on all sides. I'm behaving appropriately, like a man with a fire under him.

That is the end of chapter twenty-two. Ryan has a desk that goes up and down, a chair that fits his back, and a new idea about what his work is for.

Keep these with you: "I'm looking for a desk." "Does it come in any other colors?" "Is it in stock?" "Do you deliver?" "What's your return policy?"

In the next chapter, the weather turns warm, and the best room in the house is not inside the house at all.

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