And oh yeah, I forgot part of the gyaan. Sizes. Mattresses, like your eyes tell you, are different from shirts. Their sizes are different too. Not for them the simplicity of classifiction as 'S', 'M', 'L', 'XL' yada yada yada (the fascination hasn't worn off). Our good burly friend was kind enough to explain that too, and here's kind of how it goes.
A Double is distinct from a Twin, and while a Double doesn't double up as a sofa, a futon does. A Twin meanwhile is NOT meant for two. It is meant for one. If you need a bed for two, go for a King, but if your room is small go for a Queen. If your room is small and you are small, a Double might do, but again, remember, a double is distinct from a futon. Ofcourse, things come big here, so you also have a California King, even if California never had a king. Ofcourse, you have things like a bunk-bed, a hide-away-bed etc, but those are not for my limited imagination and my small room. I'l never remember this, so my wife made it simple - just look for a queen she said. I just remember the other names to confuse you folks :)
Anyway, continuing on with the story...I went back to the mattress showroom this time with my terminology and phrases well rehearsed. The guy seemed as happy to see me, and gave me the familiar "have I seen you before, oh your first time, then your twin is doing the rounds" story. Not sure what he meant, since in his world, Twin didn't necessarily mean two people.
Today I'm a veteran mattress shopper, but the first time, I was as lost as a child in a ....Sidhu told you where. This smiling, I was born to help you salesman came by and explained to me how lucky I was! Like the balloons in the shop said, they were having the "Biggest Mattress sale ever", and like the ads in the paper proclaimed "The HAD TO liquidate all stock to make way for new models". As a result, I was getting a a queen for the price of a double a king for the size of a double, essentially anything for the price of a double. Paying what double would cost for one didn't seem to make economic sense to me, but my wife who'd mastered the size ratios by now assured me he wasn't off the rocker. The only catch, the sale ended in two hours so I had to buy soon.
Now now, don't you play your dirty marketing tricks with me, I think, afterall, I graduated in marketing too! I mumble some story about forgetting my credit card, and go over to the other shop. Coincidence but the competing showroom has a similar sale and unfortunately, his sale was ending in two hours too. Moreover, the kind salesman really likes me (my sexy voice again?!) and offers to throw in free delivery too (oh my god, a $35 value for free!). However, he reminds me that he has seventy showrooms being serviced by a single warehouse, and since orders come in, he can never guarantee stocks, unless I order NOW!
I might've graduated in Marketing, but work planning supply chains. There might be something in the warehouse-to-showroom story, but I decide to go back to the first showroom, since he'd promised to beat any competing offer by 5%. I go there and tell him. He's now, "Ah, you had to come back afterall, didn't you, OK, let me see if we have any left...we have eighty shops all over timbuktoo eating out of one warehouse you know", and tells me I'm lucky, the last piece is left. But because I didn't buy from him the first time, he's not going to gimme that zillion dollar smile of his.
Today, I don't know what I saw that day, and I wonder if these salesmen are trained like that or if they're born like that, but that day, forgoing that zillion dollar smile for a mattress made sense somehow. I flashed my credit card and in a moment, I was down a few hundred dollars, up few feet, perched in my dreams on a to-be-delivered-in-a-week mattress!!!!!
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