Note
My jacket died earlier this week. More specifically, my medium weight jacket--the one that gets the greatest use during winter--was the one that passed on to the spirit world.
I did what one usually does in such circumstances, which was to submit my jacket to autopsy, and the report came back today. It was brief. "Death due to zipper failure," was what it read in its entirety. Attached to the report, but not a formal part of the report, was a note which explained the death was 10 years premature and could be blamed on "excessive amounts of use during exercise." I suppose that was supposed to be a finger of blame pointed at me, but I refused to accept it. Isn't that what a jacket is for, to be worn during exercise? And how can it be excessive for the jacket, when I'm the one doing all the work? If a jacket can't keep up, why would I want to wear it anyway? It's almost as bad as buying tights and finding out they're too sheer, whatever that means. Maybe Bobby Dylan will write a song for the masses about it.
After reading the autopsy, I grabbed the next jacket in line and headed out into the winds for some skiing and running. It was a little too heavy for the conditions, but so what, I will sweat more than I otherwise would. And if this jacket fails due to zipper failure or for some other equally ridiculous reason, then too bad. I'll throw it away and I won't miss it one little bit either.
Though upon a little reflection, I guess it might be a little much to expect manufacturers to design a zipper that can withstand for long the full onslaught of the winds that pummel the Laramie Range on a near daily basis.