So I just found that the air mattress I've been sleeping on the last couple of months while living with a friend's parents has a hole. And I am terrified to tell them. Should I patch the hole ( somehow) and never tell them. Or should I come clean before I fuck something up in a major way.
I don't think this sounds so fucked up really? Personally I'd be, "I noticed x about your thing, do you think I could y to fix it?" Sometimes things just get wear and tear; that there is a hole may have nothing to do with you, after all. And if you phrase it that way it's you being proactive but not wanting to possibly damage someone's stuff more.
You should probably tell them. Something like, "um, I just noticed that the air mattress I've been sleeping on has a hole in it. I'm not sure how it happened, and I'm really sorry. I can try to patch it, if you'd like."
Well patching is a pretty simple matter usually, and iirc most or at least some air mattresses come with a kit for just that. So you may just want to tell them and then offer to fix it? Maybe ask if they have the stuff to fix it? And I mean, even if you mess it up it's unlikely that you're going to make it worse than it already is anyway. So it's kind of up to you whether you tell them- most people wouldn't be mad about a hole in the air mattress, seeing as it is a pretty easily fixable thing, and accidents absolutely happen.
I'm pretty sure I'm over-reacting to the whole thing. I just panic when really dislike breaking things, especially when they aren't mine and if I will probably go to the store and buy a patch kit. And not mention it until the situation is completely taken care of. Spoiler I don't even understand where this fear of breaking things comes from and the rush of terror that takes up the following hours.
Unless they are abusive or likely to be nasty to you if you tell them you broke a thing, I would let them know before you try to fix it, on the principle that a) honest communication is usually the best policy b) they can then help you and c) in the unlikely event that something goes wrong while you are trying to fix the mattress, you won't be locked into elaborate fabrications and wacky hijinks of the not-at-all-fun kind.
That is also a truth. They are nice people. I'm just having irrationalities in a big way. Thank you to everyone for words.
I have slept on many air mattresses, and in the morning, it is always pain because I have gone from sleeping on an uncomfortable squishy air thing to sleeping directly on the floor. ((Also, the other day my cousins and I made up a game where we hit a tennis ball at each other using badmitton rackets and I hit it way too hard and the racket part broke entirely off the handle. Luckily the racket was super old and rusty already, but there's always that flash of terror plus "i've done it, i'll be kicked out for sure now". It turned out ok. no yelling, no demands of money. My aunt rolled her eyes a bit but that is her way. :) ))
air mattresses are not build to last. they're usually just plastic and air, they're cheap and therefore cheaply made, and they rub against hard things and under the weight of your body -- in short they just don't have a ten or twenty years useable life the way a solid mattress would. you didn't break it, the only way to avoid breaking it eventually would have been not to use it, and these people will probably just go "oh drat, ok how to fix the thing" because they don't sound abusive. i know anxiety fucks with people's perceptions like hell, but seriously the only thing you did "wrong" was put your weight on it, which is kind of an essential component of using it as a bed. and i think if they're nice people they'd be kind of unhappy to find you sleeping on the floor rather than use their mattress the way it's intended to be used :p
i've had people accidentally break my stuff many times in my life. the only time i've been actually mad at them was the second time my moirail washed an expensive wool thing in the machine and felted it. and it didn't wreck our relationship or anything, i just sounded off about about how "that was a pure merino sweater, it looked really good on me, argh i'm so cheesed off!" and she apologized sincerely and we agreed that she would be more careful about not accidentally getting my things in with her laundry, and that i would be more careful about putting the to-dry-clean pile farther from the machine-wash pile. i mean, the first time, she shrunk a $300 one-of-a-kind replica 19th century military jacket, but i took half the responsibility for that because i really should not have left it in with my laundry. i was upset, because it was special and it was ruined, but i wasn't really angry at her. it was an unfortunate mistake, that's all. i very much doubt an air mattress is especially sentimental, expensive, or irreplaceable. and they do tend to develop leaks over time. it's definitely not a big deal.
I have never had an air mattress that didn't pop, and I've slept on a lot of air mattresses. Just say it's leaking and offer to throw some duct tape on it.
I ended up dismantling it and sleeping on the floor in a pile of blankets. It was relatively new until I'd slept on it and one of the more expensive air mattresses. Which they set up against a wall full of tacks from when they ripped the carpet out. Problem solved.
Did you tell them what happened? Cause if youre all cool with that then its not my business but they might prefer to fix it/move it elsewhere rather than having you sleep on the floor. :/
