It's Happening:The Right Side of the Bed
By Julie Perine on January 11, 2015
“Everybody Loves Raymond,” including me.
In one of the sitcom reruns, Ray and Debra are lounging in bed when he says he just can’t get comfortable – and even more importantly, he can’t see the TV from his side. He said her feet were in the way. Debra’s suggestion of switching sides is met with dismay when Ray says he can’t imagine taking up residency on the other side of the bed after seven years of marriage.
How funny.
After 34-plus years of marriage, I’m still sleeping on “my side” of the bed; the same bed. There are perks – and there are disadvantages. My side is closest to my dresser - and the bedroom door – which all makes a lot of sense as I’m always the last to go to bed. A window and my night stand are easy access, as is my phone, my lotion, Chapstick and all the other little things I like to have within reach. However, the bathroom is nearest his side. And my view of the clock is usually challenged as I have to see past my mate – not to mention popped up knees, disarrayed limbs and things which accumulate on his night stand like late-night snack wrappers and bottles of water, the latter which mysteriously multiply night after night.
I didn’t think much about “our sides” of the bed until recently when we were on a weekend getaway and I had trouble sleeping. I thought maybe it was because I was on the wrong side of the bed so I woke Jeff up and we switched sides. The next morning, he poked a little fun of me. The ridiculing was well deserved.
How did we get those assigned sides of the bed anyway? Did it happen by chance or was there a reason all those years ago? We’ve lived in several different houses and apartments, but we’ve always slept on the same sides of the bed. We’re talking – give or take – about 12,000 nights of slumber. That’s a little mind boggling.
According to a 2011 article which ran in the Daily Mail.com, a study of 3,000 adults found that that those who migrate to the left side of the bed AKA “lefties” are generally more cheerful, positive and capable of tackling heavy workloads in the day ahead.
A 2010 study published in Evolutionary Psychology indicated that some choose the side of the bed furthest from the bedroom door, possibly for self-protective reasons.
And like the layers of sheets and blankets on any given bed, this subject has layers of reason.
Paul C. Rosenblatt’s book, “Two in a Bed: The Social System of Couple Bed Sharing,” indicates that not only do most sleep on the same side of the bed night after night, there are predisposed reasons for those bed side preferences, including which side of the bed one slept in prior to the relationship, whether or not he/she is claustrophobic, needs frequent bathroom breaks, prefers access to heat/cooling, is protective, has the most nighttime parenting responsibilities or is an early bird/night owl, whichever the case may be.
Interestingly enough, when my husband is away, I migrate to his side of the bed. It is perhaps those mornings when I do, indeed, get up on the wrong side of the bed. It’s all good food for thought or, in this case, pillow talk.
There's more about the subject here!
Julie Perine can be reached at 304-848-7200, julie@connect-bridgeport.com or follow @JuliePerine on Twitter!
More "It's Happening" HERE
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