Did you ever try and sleep on one of those mattresses that had the ‘rut’ in it?, you have a little valley in which you spend a restless night. You roll over just to encounter the valley wall, and then settle back in the rut.
A few years ago we bought a Serta Pillow Top mattress, a little pricey, but we were having trouble sleeping on our 20 year old beater. All went well for a few years with the new Serta, then came the beginning of the end, of the expensive Pillow Top mattress. We lived with it for a year or so, experiencing poor slumber And aching backs, it made a long night of the sleep ordeal.
I, being a skinflint in some matters, a spendthrift in others, decided we would try turning over the Pillow Top and sleeping on the underside. It was flat. Hard, but flat. A little too hard, so we went to Target, bought a nice thick foam top cover, and we had a new mattress. Yea, well it lasted a few month’s then the rut re-appeared. Dang rut.
6 month’s or so later…today, I says to myself, “Hershel, I have had enough!”
Off to the same place that sold us the bogus Pillow Top we went, a small bundle of cash at the ready, back to Sears. I know, why would I go back to the same place that sold me the lumpy topographical mattress we can’t sleep on?
I don’t know, I think it has something to do with the saying I will probably misquote, about ‘Dealing with the enemy you know.’
We walked into the local Sears store, went back to where they have all the mattresses set up on display, we carefully avoided the Pillow Top models, laid down on some until we found the firmness we desired. Hey, the two we liked were on sale, down from $2600 to only $1300. I would get no sleep at all if I bought a $1300 mattress, so off we went to the Sears ‘scratch and dent’ store. We have bought all of our appliances from that location. What do I care if the trash compactor has a dent in the side, the darn thing is built in, you can only see the front anyway. We have lived in this house for 30 years, haven’t had one person pull out the trash compactor and inspect the sides of it.
The store had no air conditioning, it was packed with people opening and closing the refrigerator doors, appliances lined up for half a block, scratches and dents everywhere. Three sales people. Sign of the times, I guess.
Over in the back of the store there were 30 or so mattresses, stacked on the floor, and leaned up against the wall. Some were marked ‘New, damaged’ some ‘discontinued’, some returned, but sanitized, they probably had the same company sanitize them as the company that wrap the glasses in tissue paper at motels.
I found a King size firm mattress that was wrapped in heavy plastic, with a 2007 date on it. I figured it couldn’t have gotten in too much trouble in a year.
I picked out a sales lady that looked a little more energized than the rest, and followed her around for 30 or 40 minutes as she waited on customers, always smiling at her and explaining that I would wait for her until my time came.
When it did, Sue had to loan her a pen, we went back to the mattress we had hid in a pile of others, way back in the corner.
I explained to her that the mattress was mislabeled, the stitched on mattress tag said one thing and their blurb some bored employee had scribbled on a tag said another.
I told her it would probably never sell, and end up in the dumpster, the one we noticed in the back lot, bulging with items not sold at the store.
I said quietly to her, I will give you $500.00 cash for this $900.00 mattress, I explained that my wife, standing several feet away with her arms crossed was against the idea, wanted to leave 30 minutes ago.
I imagine she was thinking she would rather be up by the cash register where the fan was, and after all, I did wait for her a long time. She countered with $518.00.
I said SOLD! Sue shook her head and walked off, hiding the big grin she had on her face.
We have it home now, it’s laying on our new tile floor in the kitchen, we will deal with the change tomorrow. Sue and all three cats are sound asleep on it.
http://tiny.cc/Matt113