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THE MATTRESS FACTORY — I love live TV. I worked in it for many years. The reason I love it, however, may be a little malicious. I love it because of all the wonderful things that can go wrong and how those things can give me a good laugh.
There is a name for that, you know. A name for people who are kind of borderline awful like me. It's called schadenfreude and it's when you laugh at someone else's misfortune. But that's not the point. The point is this video made me laugh.
A few years ago, a couple of QVC presenters were showing off an air mattress. The price for the queen size had been reduced to $131.95 from $146. They talked about how comfortable the beds are and how quick and easy they are to set up. Then, they go for the big sale — the thing that's going to get all of us to pick up the phone and fork out $131.95 — they talk about how puncture-resistant the mattresses are. In fact, this mattress is 40% more puncture-resistant. So the two hosts climb on top of the mattress and start showing off.
As with most tragedies, their hubris was their fall. Literal fall, that is, because the mattress totally popped.
The presenter who popped the mattress with her heels falls to the floor and the other host thinks fast and mentions that while they're puncture-resistant you may not want to jump on them with your heels. I feel like they should have that warning on there.
But, again, this is the perfect example of why I love live TV so much. It is the breeding ground for Murphy's Law — anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
If you don't believe me just ask these women, the makers of this air mattress, myself or anyone else who has ever worked in live television.
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