枕のブロッグエントリ

The title of today's entry is 枕のブロッグエントリ, or "The Pillow Blog Entry". This is a dumb little play on words from 枕草子, or "The Pillow Book", written by Sei Shounagon. Silly little Japanese major thing.

MOVING ON.

It never ceases to amaze me just how nice the people in Japan can be.

I swung by the futon shop near my house because I've been thinking about buying a new pillow for some time now. Well, I picked up a cheap pillow that I thought after some beatings might do me some good, but the man at the counter stopped me when I gave it to him to make a purchase. He started off by saying, "Isn't this pillow a bit tall?" I agreed, and he started telling me how the pillow is usually used for when you go on trips or for guests to use when they stay the night. The pillow itself is so darn tall that continually using it causes neck and shoulder pains.

I don't know how many of you have actually felt my shoulders, but the muscles are always in knots and I sometimes complain about how much they hurt. Well, even if you didn't already know that, I bet you're realizing just how much I started doubting about whether or not I should buy the cheap-o pillow.

He told me how more expensive things are usually more expensive for a reason. I've always been suspicious of expensive items because, well, sometimes they're just expensive because they have a brand name attached to them. The man also told me that in the past he would've sold me that pillow no questions asked, a sale is a sale. But nowadays, if you buy that cheap pillow that will give you neck and shoulder pains rather than the one that doctors researched to get a better shaped and all-around better designed pillow that'll give you a great night's sleep, there's no real satisfaction. He doesn't like making that kind of sale. I know that some of you may think "he's just trying to milk you for money", but I can't help but agree with him. If I invest the extra money and get the better pillow, then I'll sleep better and hopefully not have such crappy shoulders. Rather than sticking with crappy pillows you'll want to get rid of within a year, it's better to get the pillow that you'll keep until it breaks.

He showed me a few pillows, even had me try them out. I eventually bought one that's filled with small plastic pipes that you can remove to adjust the height of the pillow. It's WONDERFUL. I chose it over the more expensive pillow because the more expensive pillow, having three pouches instead of the single one that the one I bought has, was stiffer. Because it has three pouches, the pipe pellets can't shift along with your head when you turn to sleep on your side. Especially with how cold it's been lately I've been sleeping in the fetal position more and more. It's amazing how much heat you can surround yourself in when you cocoon yourself under the blankets. :D

Off to shower and get to bed early so I can get lots of sleep with my new pillow! Good night, world!