SINGLE GIRL BUYING A BED

Buying a bed with my own hard earned dollars was the ultimate sign of me slowly becoming an adult. Bonus points for the fact that I was looking for something larger than a twin size.

I walked into the mattress store knowing my price range, then quickly doubling it when I sat on this foam bed that made my eyes roll back. Since the only salesman was busy with another customer I just sat there, imaging all the naps I would take and crumbs I would drop on it. As I grew bored I began to listen to their conversation, realizing that buying a bed is a lot like buying a car. Just because it says $800 doesn't mean I have to pay $800. I watched as the woman dropped the price down by 500 dollars, then quickly Googled ways to negotiate.

As he turned his attention to me, he swiftly tried to talk me into another bigger, softer, much more expensive bed. Anything but the one I had planned the next 10 years of my life with.

He said I should go for a larger one, saying it would fit two people more comfortably.

He tried selling me on the benefits of the sleep number beds, arguing people like different firmness.

He finally began to attempt to persuade me into opting to purchase the mattress protector, in case of an accident.

He wasn't grasping the situation.

I was a single 22 year old female who was using her first paycheck ever to go buy a bed, any bed, it didn't even matter at that point. Anything was better than the scabies covered couch I had been crashing on since I moved to the city. He wasn't listening when I told him the only thing I'd be sharing the bed with was my future cat and overheated laptop. And worst of all, he didn't laugh at my joke that a queen sized bed would only make me feel lonelier. Mo' space, mo' problems, amiright?

Finally I grew annoyed and asked him if he was going to sell me the bed I wanted or not, cause their competitor was literally across the parking lot. He took the hint and began the paperwork. I said no thanks to the mattress cover, stating I like to take risks and Gatorade stains never hurt anyone.

A week later my new bed arrived and we've never been happier. Coming from always having slept in a twin bed, my full sized bed felt like heaven. A few weeks later my cat arrived and I quickly lost all that extra space.

If there's anything you buy once you enter the real (world where you'll most likely be working at a job you hate) it has to be a bed! Shoes are cute and iPhones are fun and all, but neither one of those items comfort you when you've been in a fluorescent lit office for the past 8 hours.

I'm currently in the process of moving to a tiny studio apartment in DC which means one thing, time to buy a couch! Well let's be real, time to buy a scratching post for my cat.