Shrink wrapped

 

When we first arrived in Nuwara Eliya and took over our little house, it thrilled us to no end to see that the mattress in our master bedroom was brand new. In fact, it was still covered in plastic and the mattress edges encased in heavy chunks of cardboard. That first evening we slept in our new home, and before putting on our new bed sheets, Bill and I had a little discussion about whether we should cut the plastic. It was a strange land, with strange customs and we weren't sure what was appropriate. I only knew that I did not want to be sleeping on crinkly plastic and hearing it rustle every time we moved at night in the bed. So, we hedged our bets.

 

We slit the plastic covering with a knife on one full length of the mattress and both ends of the mattress. Then, stripping the plastic back off the mattress, we stuffed it in between the side board of the bed and the mattress itself. We have been sleeping comfortably on it ever since.

 

Since then, we have now noticed that all furniture in Sri Lanka is well coated in plastic. Couches, chairs, cushions, desk chairs, mattresses and the like are all covered in thick window plastic, even in the store displays. The interesting thing is that the plastic is never taken off the furniture. At the hospital, a couple of desk chairs still have tattered cardboard and plastic around the legs, even though the chairs are shabby looking. People leave the plastic on their knickknacks and furniture, even after the items are in their homes.

Recently, our landlady invited us to her home to celebrate the birthday party of one of her children. She invited me into her bedroom while she changed her little baby. I sat on the bed in their master bedroom. Rustle, Rustle.

 

We will need duck tape before we vacate this place.