Speaker in pillow drowns out marital harmony
By Beth Teitell
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Call me old-fashioned, but I believe a couple that listens to downloads together stays together. But sadly, even that tiny bit of marital harmony is doomed, as the latest assault on togetherness gets set to hit stores - for Father’s Day no less.
The “miPillow” wireless personal sound system allows users to listen to an mp3 player through a pillow speaker. The premise is that one would avoid disturbing a sleeping spouse - but it’s really just more of an accelerating “you go your way, hon, I’ll go my way” trend.
For a mere $39.99, miPillow users can enjoy a Foo Fighters fest next to their “partners” while keeping interaction down to a minimum. It’s parallel play for grownups.
In the old days, couples learned to compromise on the big issues by practicing their getting-along skills on relatively small bedroom matters: the temperature of the electric blanket, whether the bedside lamp was on or off, the firmness of the mattress.
But now, thanks to advances in “dual-zone” mattress technology - and of course the Itty Bitty Book Light - there’s no need to even speak to your bed partner, or even for him or her to know when you’ve gotten up, as the late-night ads for non-motion-transfer advances make clear: “I can get out of bed without disturbing him,” a seemingly considerate actress says. (To sneak into the kitchen and eat all the leftover cake, I always wonder, or to steal away for a less benign binge?)
But of course the need to have it your way isn’t confined to the bedroom. It’s seeped into every aspect of life. Way back in the day, pioneer couples pushing west in covered wagons were happy to have the same temperature for driver and passenger. Sure, maybe Jebediah was a bit warmer than he wanted to be, and Rebekkah a tad chillier, but they were in it together. Now? Woe to the couple who buys a car without dual zone electronic climate control, or orders a pizza with the same toppings on the whole thing, not half veggie/half pepperoni.
But back to miPillow. Perhaps the biggest loss will be for pillow talk, (“Honey, should we go to your cousin’s for the weekend?” “What? Wait - this song is almost finished”).
But I guess we could just redefine what pillow talk means: that’s when you and your I.S.O (insignificant other) are lying in bed chatting on your cellphones - to other people.
