Easy Chairs

Where do you

sit? I have lately been paying attention to commercials for easy chairs.

I don’t need one. They are just interesting.

My parents sat in comfortable chairs, not greatly stuffed, comfortable from use.

Of course modern man chairs all recline, all have a foot rest, some will go full horizontal and become a bed, if you please.

Chair features include speakers that connect to the TV via Bluetooth so you can listen without waking your partner. Many include cup holders, heating units, charging units for cell phones, maybe a massage gizmo, and are also super stuffed rocking chairs.

For people who have to fight gravity to dismount, some chairs have springs to assist the chair in spitting you out to the vertical.

It is possible to match your easy chair up with an ensemble of other parts that take up most of a room. In addition to the features mentioned above, the aggregation may include a mini-refrigerator for keeping beverages and snacks.

There are stores that sell nothing but easy chairs and the suites of accessories.

They come in any size, material, color and any combination of features.

I don’t remember easy chairs before homes had televisions. A family could go about its business, listen to the news on radio or a variety show, or even a drama without missing a beat. The nature of radio was such that you could read a newspaper or book, or continue knitting a sweater and still follow the story on the radio. You didn’t need a special chair.

After televisions came along, the idea of snuggling into an easy chair was not a good idea because someone had to get up and change the channel. Sorry, no remote.

My in-laws had their special chairs, but there was nothing special about them. My father-in-law had a well worn chair that fit him like an old saddle. It was within view of the TV and close by the 8 track tape player and his stack of polka music.

As a child I recall company sitting around the kitchen table. The chairs around that table were not special, and sometimes the chairs didn’t even match.

During warm weather, conversation moved to the screened front porch where all the chairs were rockers. There was also a swing that was hung close to the floor and moved with a creak.

My maternal grandparents never had a television, and there was no easy chair for either of them, but my grandfather bought a rocking chair at a family sale that had belonged to his grandfather.

That short stroke rocking chair is in pretty rough shape but it still rocks. That rocker was his Sunday afternoon roost on the front porch, where he counted cars crossing over the mountain pass a mile away.

I don’t need a special chair. I’m lazy enough without any temptation.

joenphillips@yahoo.com