Worth A Hundreds Yards of This?

As soon as my fingers skimmed over the Egyptian cottom duvet and pillow set in a luxury department store yesterday afternoon, I realised that such fineries can only be afforded once you've endured many nights' sleep under the fibrous folds of polycotton.

At first I imagined what I could be, who I could become if I owned some of that beautiful stuff.  Famous people sleep in sheets of Egyptian cotton, which  is also Egypt's prize export. Perhaps I could pretend I was famous too. Once I can proudly say that I sleep on sheets of sheer heaven every night, I thought to myself, I will surely be somebody of note and worth taking seriously.

Yes, with a sting in my heart I ignored the first impulses of desire coursing through my body as I gazed upon the luxurious fabric - and its cringeworthy price-tag. Such comfort and quality, I realised with dismay, comes only to those who can afford to buy it. The rest of us, well - we'll have to stick to 35% cotton textiles and a thread-counting budget.

My conclusion: most of us will never own sheets of Egyptian cotton in our lifetimes. In fact, many in the world today don't have a bed at all, let alone a sheet with which to cover it. It's dog-eat-dog out there, children. You'll either end up warm and comforted in sheets of Egyptian cotton, or you'll end up harvesting it so the lucky ones can.

What'll it be?