One day a group of my friends were gathered and this question was posed to us, “what is the greatest invention of all time?” We debated it a while saying things like the microchip, the radio, and the wheel. After thinking about it a while I decided, who cares what the greatest invetion is. Why does everything have to be the greatest? The Playstation isn’t the most significant invention ever but it sure is a lot of fun. So I decided let’s forget about the greatest invention of all time. I want to talk about some inventions that aren’t the greatest, but are still great. These are the inventions that are helpful but underrated and we usually take them for granted.
The first invention in my series of underrated inventions is the Pillow. Think about this for a minute. How many objects do you use every single day? How many objects do you use for five to eight hours (depending on how lazy you are) a day? The only thing besides my bed, pillow, and blanket that I can think of is my computer. I don’t even use my pants for eight hours out of the day!
Imagine if someone decided pillows were being taken for granted and he collected all the pillows in the world. Can you imagine how uncomfortable it would be? We’ve been spoiled for so many years having that nice fluffy object under our head.
I was unable to discover the genuis who first thought up the pillow, nor could I find a date that pillows were invented but pillows at least date back to the Ancient Egyptians. We know this because many old Egyptian tombs had pillows inside. The Egyptians seemed to think it was important to lay the deceased person’s head on a pillow because they always had nicely decoreated pillows. Those Egyptians like their frills.
On the other hand the Chinese were hardcore. They believed that using a nice fluffy pillow would rob a person of their vitality. So the Chinese used pillows made out of wood and ceramic materials. That kind of defeated the point doesn’t it? Not that I’m going to argue with the Chinese, because they are hardcore.
The Chinese did have one good idea though. The Chinese would fill up their ceramic pillows with herbal remedies. This is a method that has actually come back recently. It seems that regular fluffly pillows just aren’t enough for people anymore. Now they want pillows with hypo-allergenic fibers so it won’t bother people with sensitive skin or allergies. They have now added herbal remedies because they could be therapeutic. They even make orthopedic pillows that relieve the neck and keep the head elevated to relieve any cold or sinus problems. Of course the people with these pillows are the pansies of the world. Pillows are already fluffy and comfortable, what more could you want?
Pillows aren’t just for sleeping on though. Pillows can also be used for fighting. We’ve all been in pillow fights before, it’s a lot of fun. I’m not sure who invented pillow fighting but I’d like to imagine it was two women, probably in their pajamas and moving in slow motion.
Pillow fights are normally great because you can wail on somebody and not hurt them but I had a bad experience with pillow fighting once though. There was this guy in my youth group named Blair. He was the quietest, most shy person you’ll ever meet and he wouldn’t hurt a fly. I decided to hit with my pillow and see how he reacted. I was one of the few people he talked to so we messed around a lot. So I wasn’t surprised when he started to fight back. However, I was surprised when he started swinging like a madman. I mean he wasn’t even looking, he just closed his eyes and started swinging in random directions. Unfortunately since he wasn’t looking he elbowed me in the head and I was bleeding for about twenty minutes. He didn’t do it on purpose though…or did he?
Pillows are also great because of pillow sheets. I don’t like pillow sheets because they keep dirt of the pillow and can easily be washed. I don’t care if my pillow is dirty. I like pillow sheets because you can get pillow sheets with practically anything on them. If you want to prove you are the biggest Transformers fan, you get a Transformers pillow sheet and then invite all your friends over to see it. Having a pillow case with your favorite TV show on it was like having a lunchbox with your favorite TV show on it, except that your pillow doesn’t come with a cup of Jello. One of these days somebody will invent a Jello pillow though. There’s always room for Jello.
So from now on don’t take your pillow for granted. How old are you? Well, that is how many years your pillow has been keeping you comfortable. Give thanks to your pillow. You might even want to show your appreciation for your pillow by giving it a hug. Or maybe you already hug your pillow at night because you’re lonley. You pansy.
If you would like to suggest some other underrated invention you’d like to see me write about feel free to leave a comment or send me a message.
