I am from an Anglo-Saxon background (well, let's just say white lower-middle-class American). When I was a pre-teen I shared a bedroom with my older brother. We had one of those daybeds wherein the bottom bed pulled outward and then was raised so that both beds were side by side. When I moved out on my own I always slept by myself. On a few occasions I have had to share my bed for sleeping space as I do not own a couch. It's generally a mutually agreeable arrangment. My question : Have you ever shared your bed with someone with whom you weren't intimate? How long is the longest you would want to do that?
A bed like that is called a trundle bed, and I had to share one with my little brother from the age of about five until I finally got my own room in our new house when I was eleven. After that, my Gram moved in and I had to share a bed with her until I got sick of it and moved into the basement, where I stayed until I left home at 19. I would hate to share a bed with someone I wasn't intimate with, and I would sleep on the floor first. I like sleeping alone and do not like to be crowded. Bob is always pushing me up against the wall, and he makes me too hot on warm nights, but I put up with it most of the time because I am a good wife. If it's very hot and I really can't stand it, I sneak away in the middle of the night to my room down at the main house in the cellar to sleep alone and cool.
I went to a conference several years ago. We were housed with members of the community where the conference was held. Through a miscommunication, the person who was housing us thought that the person I was riding with and I were lovers. So he put us up in a queen size bed. We were both in committed relationships at the time and found it very uncomfortable. We made it through the first night, but after that one of us slept on the couch. I currently share my bed with my husband and a very active almost 2 year old. Some nights I feel like there just isn't any room left in the bed for me. But most of the time it works out well. Kathi
When I was a young hippie, I had a friend named Elaine, and when we had to sleep in our unheated apartment (to save on money) we spooned into a sleeping bag. If we wanted to roll over during the night, one of us would wake the other and we would roll over together. I liked the non-sexual closeness at the time, but I don't think I'd enjoy it now as an old person. But it is still a fond memory of my past.
