King Sized Beds

The true purpose of large mattresses alludes me. I can understand the point if two large people and their dog sleep together, but for a single person, what is the point of anything larger than a normal sized (I think this might vary based on your country of residence) bed?

At a certain point, there is only so much space you need. Whenever I stay at a hotel with a large bed, I feel as if I only use half of it. The other side really has no benefit to it. (Even in rooms with two separate beds). If you are a seven-foot-tall basketball player who likes to sleep arms and legs spread like a kid making an angel in the snow, then fine.

That last image prompted a rather intriguing theory. What if the person who came up with the bed size system and what is considered "normal" is actually a really large man who got angry when beds weren't big enough. Maybe he had to sleep in a small bed for all his youth and then devoted his life to making sure no one would have to face a similar experience again.

A more reasonable theory would be that it relates to the status symbol of furniture. I know many houses that have chairs set up that never actually get used, and are purely there for show. Having a larger bed would imply a higher class just like a fine sitting area would imply an inability to properly purchase furniture. The names given to bed sizes such as "King" and "Queen" support this theory as well.