Thursday 31 May 2012

Single Girl Snippet: The Mattress (Continued)


After sleeping on the wood floor in my apartment for a week, my mattress was finally scheduled for delivery on a Monday. Sunday evening, I pulled out the metal support frame and discovered not only did I have no screws to put it together, but the frame was not the right type for the mattress I had ordered.

Excerpt from conversation between new salesman (N) and me (M) at the mattress store the morning my mattress is scheduled to be delivered:

M: There’s really no way a new bedframe couldn’t just be added to the delivery I already have scheduled?
N: No, it’s definitely too late for that.
M: And, you don’t think I could just carry the metal frame home? I live ten blocks from here. (I can see his eyes quickly scan me from head to toe. He was obviously trying not to laugh.)
N: No. You could not. You don’t have a car?
M: Nope.
N: You live alone?
M: Yup.
N: I could drop it off to you on my way home from work tonight.
M: Thanks. That’s very kind of you.
N: Not a problem. So, what brought you to our city?
M: Work.
N: What kind of work do you do?
M: Health-related
Disclaimer: People I don’t know like to tell me the intimate details of their lives completely unprompted. It happens all the time – which is why I barely batted an eye when the next thing he said was:
N: My brother, he sees a psychiatrist.
M: A lot of people do.
N: He thinks he has the ADHD. After 50 years! Can you believe it?
M: I can.
N: And my kid, he was falling behind at school. But he’s getting extra help.
M: I’m glad to hear he’s getting the support he needs.
N: His mother and I, we split up. Marriage is hard.
M: It sure can be.
N: I tried to get her to go to counselling with me. She refused.
M: Sounds like you did your best to save your marriage.
N: I did. You know, this is therapeutic for me (throws his arms back like Kate Winslet on the Titanic). I’m getting in touch with my feelings. This is like seeing a psychiatrist for free.
M: About that bedframe…

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