# Saturday, October 17: Couch or Kiln?

## Recommendation: Help Marcus move the couch.

## Why

1. **He asked you specifically.** Marcus came to you for help. The kiln day is an open invitation to everyone. Your absence there costs only you. Your absence at Marcus's place costs him.

2. **A couch needs two people.** Moving a couch is a job that one person often cannot do alone. Your help probably decides whether the move happens that day, not just how pleasant it is.

3. **Kiln days come back.** Community studios usually run open firings on a regular schedule. A friend moving into a new place is a one time event, and the help you give during a move tends to be remembered.

4. **The cost to you is small.** Moving a couch usually takes a few hours, not the whole day. You may even have time left over for something else you enjoy.

5. **It builds the friendship.** Showing up when someone needs a hand makes it easier to ask them for help later.

## When the kiln day should win instead

Choose the kiln day if any of these is true:

- You have finished pieces that must be fired soon (for example, a gift with a deadline, or greenware that is drying and at risk of cracking), and the studio fires rarely.
- Marcus has other helpers lined up and would be fine without you.
- You have a back injury or another physical reason not to lift heavy furniture.

If none of those apply, go help Marcus. If you do, tell the studio you hope to catch the next kiln day, and ask when it is.