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Hi, I've been posting parts of my mattress buying saga on this site for months. Now, I have finally written the entire story on my blog...http://chronicfatigue.typepad.com/mj/ If you are shopping for a mattress, it is required reading!
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Ok, not to be controversial, but that blog post is pretty pathetic. I just got back from a surgical unit in Afghanistan where as an officer and a surgeon, I was lucky enough to sleep on a very worn out air mattress on a military issued cot. Most of the men and woman serving here have it much worse… No shopping around for something plush and soft to sleep on... It’s the floor or the ground for most of them. Sorry you had such a hard time with such a pedestrian pursuit as finding a bed to sleep on. I truly felt for you when you had to suffer through "mattress death row…” You poor thing... How hard it must have been for you, walking from store-to-store with a Starbucks, lying on all those awful mattresses, and dealing with those horrible salespeople. I'm sure at the same time you were doing this, I was pulling fragments of an IED from some poor Marines’ shoulder and arm. If he’s lucky, he may have about 60% use of his right side after 18 months of painful PT. My apologies to the forum for my post, I joined to learn more about selecting a mattress to sleep on, after being deployed for 6 months and sleeping in the conditions I mention above. I share my diatribe only as a vehicle to show all of us how trivial some things can be in the big picture |
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I would never, ever compare my mattress shopping "ordeal" with anything on the scale of what you've just experienced in a war zone. Or course your recent experiences put my "problems" in perspective and make them seem completely trivial. Because in the grand scheme of things...they ARE. But then again, you could say the same about everyone who posts here. No one is pretending that buying a mattress is some kind of life-and-death situation -- far from it. Are we all just spoiled American consumers with no appreciation for how good we really have it? Probably. That goes without saying. You can apply that assessment to pretty much everything we do in our shallow, overly consumerist society; MOST of it is trivial and no one would pretend otherwise. I'm sure your perspective is bringing that fact out in bold relief. I don't blame you for your outrage. However, this forum is dedicated to helping people with the mattress buying process (which can be frustrating), and letting people vent a little. Honestly, I don't take myself -- or my mattress story -- too seriously. It was just good, somewhat humorous fodder for my blog. That's all! Sorry if it upset you. |
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Well, if everyone, including me, came here and discussed all the horrific things they've been through, then mattress shopping is indeed trivial and there's no need for a forum. Everyone who is not in a life and death situation should just suck everything up and stop complaining I guess. But this forum is to find out "What's the Best Mattress", not the "I've been through so much and your sleep issues are very trivial to me" forum, and what happens in our little lives is important to us. |
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DoreenA wrote:
Well, if everyone, including me, came here and discussed all the horrific things they've been through, then mattress shopping is indeed trivial and there's no need for a forum. Everyone who is not in a life and death situation should just suck everything up and stop complaining I guess.
But this forum is to find out "What's the Best Mattress", not the "I've been through so much and your sleep issues are very trivial to me" forum, and what happens in our little lives is important to us. I have no doubt you have a little life... The tone of your reply suggests that in spades.... This message was modified Feb 1, 2012 by RLTW
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RLTW wrote: Ok, not to be controversial, but that blog post is pretty pathetic. I just got back from a surgical unit in Afghanistan where as an officer and a surgeon, I was lucky enough to sleep on a very worn out air mattress on a military issued cot. Most of the men and woman serving here have it much worse… No shopping around for something plush and soft to sleep on... It’s the floor or the ground for most of them. Sorry you had such a hard time with such a pedestrian pursuit as finding a bed to sleep on. I truly felt for you when you had to suffer through "mattress death row…” You poor thing... How hard it must have been for you, walking from store-to-store with a Starbucks, lying on all those awful mattresses, and dealing with those horrible salespeople. I'm sure at the same time you were doing this, I was pulling fragments of an IED from some poor Marines’ shoulder and arm. If he’s lucky, he may have about 60% use of his right side after 18 months of painful PT.
My apologies to the forum for my post, I joined to learn more about selecting a mattress to sleep on, after being deployed for 6 months and sleeping in the conditions I mention above. I share my diatribe only as a vehicle to show all of us how trivial some things can be in the big picture Just whatever you do, please don't visit any forums that discuss high end a/v equipment, jewelry, or luxury autos etc. If possible, the rants there might make you even more angry than you already are about a group of people looking for a mattress that doesn't hurt their backs at night.
/first world problems. |
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Yeah I do have to say out of respect to thank you for serving your country and sacrificing yourself so others can enjoy the freedoms we have. Please don't take one person complaining as them taking your service for granted. But two things you should not assume: 1. Tone - You have no idea the tone of Doreen's response, this is the internet. 2. Literal translation of certain words or phrases like 'death row'...I assumed when I read the blog post that these were no doubt 'hyperbole' to make for a more interesting read. I personally appreciated the use of it. I actually work with a vet that served for over 20 years, has done a lot of tours and a different perspective of the world and people than any normal civilian could ever have. Now that he is retired from that, he now works in the mattress industry with us trying to do his part to solve these issues in the blog post (and make a good buck doing it of course). What a lot of your issues stem from is an inherent lack of transparency in our industry, I hope others read the blog post if not to serve as nothing but a warning for the potentially negative experience. |