NOT COUCHING THEIR WORDS, SOME GUYS CONFESS THAT SOFA TIME ISN'T SO BAD
Don Fernandez Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/25/2004
The living room sofa: penalty box or slice of paradise?
Springs and down, feathers and fiber, encased in comfy cushions. The sweet feel of leather and chenille molding to the counters of one's body. Not to mention a remote control within arm's reach and a television just feet away.
Who says the doghouse is an unpleasant sentence?
"I love to sleep on the couch," said Russell Martin of Atlanta, 46, who just purchased a love seat to nap in his office. "My dad was the same way. Big fluffy pillows; I can tuck in my feet in the little corners. I probably spent nine months to a year looking for the right sofa. It's caused problems with my girlfriends. They don't quite understand it."
As former President Clinton makes the promotional rounds this week hawking his autobiography, "My Life," he confessed that he spent many a night snoozing on his couch as penance for the Monica Lewinsky debacle (seems like there would be a few spare bedrooms in the White House, as Oprah Winfrey pointed out during their interview).
As with many a misbehaving man before him, the sofa served as a corner of humiliation and supposed discomfort. Or was it?
"It might have been when the couch was hard and lumpy," said Stephanie Schwab, relationship expert for imatchup.com, an Internet dating site. "But now you have all these luxuries. You might even want to stay up and watch the game. It's more of a common experience. It's not so a big deal. It might be a big deal if they said go sleep in the garage."
Gone are the Flintstonelike settees of yesteryear. Hard, durable cushions have been replaced by pillowlike padding.
Susan Bates, manager at Norwalk Furniture on Lenox Road in Atlanta, even encourages customers to lie on couches in a naplike position before purchasing.
"People are asking to upgrade their cushions," Bates said. "People want comfort so that's what the industry has started doing. There are some very plush cushions."
Dr. Michael Breus, clinical director of the Sleep Disorder Center of Southeastern Lung Care in Decatur, who also runs www.
soundsleepsolutions.com, said bed is still the chief spot where people catch their 40 winks. But sofas sometime serve a purpose.
"Some people find it more comfortable than their bed," he said. "I have a lot of people who sleep in recliners. Sleeping in the couch isn't necessarily a bad thing. Some of my insomnia patients sleep well on the couch and go to bed and they're wide awake."
Men aren't the only ones looking to sofa snooze.
"Sometimes when women are mad, we'll go to the couch," said Laura Gilbert, senior editor and relationship expert at Maxim magazine for men. "Couches are comfortable. It's not like you're kneeling on grains of rice. I know a lot of people who sleep on their couches regularly."
Martin's girlfriend often tries to um, lure him away from the couch with other activities. It works — temporarily.
"I always come back to the couch," he said. "It's a cocoon thing. I'll never change either."
