Oi, you're on my side of the bed!

When my relationship with boyfriend S first began, we used to change which side of the bed that we slept on all the time. Back in those days, we had a futon which was crammed up against a wall in quite a small bedroom, so whoever got into bed first would move over next to the wall to make room for the other person. Even when we moved into a bigger place and got ourselves a proper bed, we didn't much worry about which side of the bed we slept.

One of our more 'precious' friends found this very odd. During the 1990's he stayed with us for a few days, and just after he arrived, he found something in his luggage for me while he was unpacking.

"Hey GB, I've brought that book that I mentioned for you if you want to borrow it?" he shouts down.

"OK sure, can you leave it on our bed while you're upstairs?"

"Yes OK," he replies, "which side of the bed do you sleep?"

"Oh either, just leave it in the middle I guess :-)."

"WHAT?", he says, sounding shocked, "you don't have your own side of the bed??"

"No not really, what's the point of having one's own side?"

I guess it was because this guy leads a very ordered life that he couldn't imagine not having his own side of the bed if was in a relationship. But perhaps it was because of the way he over-organised his life that's prevented him from ever finding a boyfriend. On another occasion when I stayed with him, I recall being told off for putting the jam back in the fridge on the wrong side of the correct shelf!

In recent years though, myself and boyfriend S have settled down to sleeping on the same side of the bed each night. But occasionally, if we've moved the furniture in the room around for example, we've agreed to swap sides going forward just for the fun of it :-).

With boyfriend P, it's been a bit different. Although he'll say that he doesn't really mind which side of the bed he sleeps on, in the past he did tell me once that he has a preferred side! So whenever we go to sleep together, I'll remember which side he prefers and try and take the other :-), but it's not a firm rule.

To me, ALWAYS sleeping on the same side of the bed with a boyfriend is a bit sad. It's a small indication that one's life has perhaps become predictable, and hence boring :-(. So if you've got a partner and you're reading this, the next time you go to sleep with him or her why not make sure it's on the opposite side of the bed to last time? If nothing else, it'll give you a chance to approach the customary activities from a new angle!