How long?

I bought a bedroom today. Not the room itself of course - that I bought a year ago (it came with a cosy little flat attached) - but the rather lovely fitted bedroom suite that I witnessed in MFI a little over a week ago. Well, technically I didn't actually buy it, but I did put down a deposit on it and I've every intention of carrying on and paying for it in full. I'd set my heart upon the suite near as soon I laid eyes on it - some decisions I make entirely too quickly. Despite the fact I don't require it to be installed for a goodly while yet (have I mentioned 7 months recently?) I was tempted by a bank holiday offer which granted me a further 10% off. All I wanted to do today was pay for it.

I'm very uncomfortable when it comes to bargains and haggling and suchlike. I prefer to see a price, pay it and end the matter there. However, it seems the rule that the more expensive products get the more flexible the price becomes. I ended up inadvertently haggling over the price with the salesman in the store. I didn't mean to barter with him, but he seemed to mistake my natural air of indecision (some people have an air of authority, I make do with my air of indecision. It occasionally serves me better than I have any right to expect) for some sort of bargaining ploy (it wasn't - my intentions were quite set) and started to make a dizzying series of reductions. I realise that these reductions have already been factored in and are simply a device to encourage purchase, but I really just wanted him to arrive at a final figure. He did so eventually, but even then I'm sure he would have carried on making further concessions had I pressed him (or simply havered a while longer). However, by that point all I wanted was to do was to get as far away as possible from him.

But then he did something I found quite odd. As if to further reassure me (I didn't want reassurance, I was simply trying to retain the will to live by that point) he started extolling the virtues of the suite, including dropping in the horrifying fact that it has a roughly 20 year life expectancy (as opposed to some of the cheaper furniture whose lifespan is only half as long). I know, on an intellectual level at least,that long lasting furniture is a Good Thing, but the future is something I prefer not to think about unless absolutely necessary and resent being made to consider it at the drop of someone elses hat. I should probably just have walked away from the whole deal just then, but I carried on with it (after double checking that the deposit was fully refundable).

Today I bought a bedroom. And seemingly a large chunk of future.