Futon covers and annoyed back muscles

So I went out on Saturday morning to buy a new futon cover for my couch. It’s been ages since I purchased the futon, and I know nothing about what sizes they come in, so I measured the cushion and hoped for the best.

When I got to the futon store, and gave the salesperson the measurements I made, I found out that there aren’t that many different sizes of futons. They’re mostly just double or queen size. The sales staff seemed highly amused that I had actually done any measuring. I got the impression that I was their Eccentric Customer Of The Day – especially when I picked out a futon cover that met my primary purchase criteria, which were: (a) something non-cutesy, preferably solid colour, and (b) something cheap. The salesperson asked me, smirkingly, whether my new cover fit the motif of my room. I responded, “If I ever have a motif for anything, feel free to shoot me.” I then resolved, if I ever need a new futon cover again, to patronize their nearby competitor.

To get the new futon cover on required serious quantities of lifting, pushing, straining, and cursing. After I finally wrestled it into place, I realized that I had done a lot of lifting at awkward angles, and wondered whether I had put myself at risk of a back injury. As I know from painful experience, a back muscle never complains right away that it is damaged – it usually takes about a day for all the relevant data to be processed. Then, when you’re bending over a sink or something, it goes SPROING. That’s what happened to me: fortunately, the muscle I strained is in the middle of my back, so it won’t take long to heal.

(My Worst Injury Ever was when I pulled a muscle in my lower back after tripping and falling while playing volleyball. That injury didn’t show up until two days later, when I bent over to pick up some laundry. Though I should have known something was up: I couldn’t turn my head to the left at all.

The day after that injury, I couldn’t stand straight: I was hunched over at roughly a 30 degree angle. It took a year and a half for that to fully heal.)