Pillow Quest

I am in Salt Lake and the Lovely Sharon is in Palm Desert; 660 miles from me. Yesterday I went shopping.  Not a leisurely, strolling type shopping but shopping with a purpose. I needed a new mattress pad and new extra firm pillows.  I bought firm pillows a couple of months ago but they seem to be mushy and flat already.  I can’t say I like mushy, flat pillows, I find them not only physically uncomfortable, but emotionally disturbing.  It is as though the life has gone out of them.  They lie silently on the bed mushy, flat and dead.  I need new pillows, firm, no, extra firm pillows.  The last few sets of pillows I have bought were “Chaps” brand.  They are not a good brand, don’t bother with them.  My Palm Desert pillows are nice and extremely firm, just the way I like them.  So I decided to go on a pillow pilgrimage.

Like all pilgrimages, I was need in of guidance. I called the Lovely Sharon in Palm Desert.  I told her about my mushy, flat and dead Salt Lake pillows and asked her what pillows she bought in Palm Desert. The Lovely Sharon, like a true pilgrim guide, advised me what to do.  She advised me to start my trek at TJ Maxx on Draper Parkway.  I told her that not only did I need pillows but I also needed a new mattress pad.  She told me that there was a good chance that TJ Maxx would have not only the pillows that I so desperately sought but an appropriate mattress pad.


With enthusiasm I drove to TJ Maxx.  I parked my car, and walked into the store.  As I entered it took only a few seconds to orient myself and locate where the pillows were located.  There a number of pillows but not a great number.  I checked them all out but located only one extra firm Ralph Lauren pillows.  I decided to go to Maceys.  However, I did find a pretty nice looking mattress pad at TJ Maxx’s so I bought it.  As I was walking back to my car, I felt happy that at least one of my chores had been accomplished.  I could, with a sense of satisfaction, check the mattress pad off of my lists of things to do.

From TJ Maxx’s I drove a few miles north to Maceys.  As fortune would have it, as I walked through the door, I was immediately in the pillow department. And what a pillow department it was.  There must have been a couple of hundred pillows of all brands, sizes and degrees of firmness.  There down pillows, synthetic pillows, foam pillows and other types of composition.  After seven or eight minutes I found the mother lode, a two pack of extra firm Ralph Lauren Pillows.  Just what I was looking for.  I snatched them up immediately.

As I walked to the checkout desk, I wandered through the sheet and pillow case department. I can honestly affirm that in my entire life, I have never bought pillow cases and sheets on my own.  I don’t know what got into me but I started browsing through the pillow case and sheet department.  The first thing I notice was how many brands, colors, thread count and packaging options there were.  The other thing I noticed was how expensive some of the items were.  I looked for affordable items, good thread count and colors that were acceptable.  I am embarrassed to say that I looked through sheets and pillow cases for some 15 minutes.   It did not seem like a manly endeavor.  It seemed liked something I would stand around watching while the Lovely Sharon looked for sheets.  But for some unknown reason, I was in to this pillow case and sheet thing.  Maybe the quest for mattress and pillows had expanded in scope to include sheets and pillow cases.  After much consideration, I settled upon a single package containing a fitted sheet, a flat sheet and two pillow cases.   As I left Macey’s, it occurred to me that on this wintery March 3rd day, while other men were skiing or snow shoeing or doing outdoor chores. I had been shopping for mattress pads, pillows, sheets and pillow cases.    As stated above, a manly endeavor indeed.

After Maceys, I decided to go to Costco.  I needed nine volt batteries, bottled water and a few other things.  I found a pair of kaki’s and a black sweater each for $14.95.  I go to Costco with Sharon in Palm Desert and when she is in Salt Lake, I go to Costco in Salt Lake with Sharon.  I can tell you that going to Costco by myself is ok but it is just shopping.  Going to Costco with the Lovely Sharon is fun.  It is an adventure.  We go up and down each aisle looking at everything.  To shop at Costco, or for that matter, to shop anywhere with the Lovely Sharon is totally different than shopping by myself.  When I shop alone, I have a list, I know what I want and I don’t mess around. I go in, I find what I am looking for, I get it and then I get out of there.  Shopping with the Lovely Sharon is entirely different. Every item in the store is inspected, considered, touched, held up, scrutinized and then put back to its original location. When the Lovely Sharon shops, no stone is left unturned.  The possibility of overlooking a good buy, a treasure does not exist when shopping with Sharon. She checks out everything.  I remember once I accompanied to purchase a greeting card.  When I look for a card, such as an anniversary cars, I look at a couple, I pick one up, conclude its ok and buy it.  The Lovely Sharon picks up and reads every card.  It is like a medical researcher looking for a new gene trigger that may cure cancer. The particular trigger that may shut off the bad cells.  The researcher has to consider each possible gene trigger.  He or she cannot just be satisfied with the first one.  They consider all possibilities.  Very similar to the Lovely Sharon looking for greetings cards.  It makes one wish they had brought a three legged stool to relax on while her analysis process is completed.

 Anyway, Costco by myself is not nearly as fun as Costco with the Lovely Sharon.  Maybe her headstone should be graved with “She was fun at Costco”.    Not a bad headstone if you ask me.

All in all it as a nice but quiet day.  I was lonely, but I my pillow quest was successful.  Next weekend, I think I am going socks and boxer shorts.