I decided to go a bit casual to church yesterday. I wore my “old” windbreaker instead of a newer sports jacket. I’ve had the windbreaker for a long time. It’s an old friend.
After church, Rose and I went to lunch and I, unsuspecting, impressed our waiter.
“Is that a Member’s Only jacket?” he asked as he brushed aside the collar to expose the “members only” logo. “It is?” he exclaimed, truly excited. I considered this a very unique way to “earn” a big tip but “whatever.” Later he returned and advised that he had looked it up on Google. “Even an old stained one is worth money..” he advised like an investment broker. That crack, which I took as a comment on the condition of my windbreaker, knock his tip down considerably.
Rose and I discussed and decided it was really old, but could not nail down how old. “I think I bought it at “Brothers” before it burned. My wife measures the passage of time in terms of shopping trips. Up to yesterday, Rosemary only remembers the burning of Brothers because they sold her a pair of shoes that didn’t match and burned their store down to avoid an exchange.
The eighties? Probably before we bought our current home in which we have resided for over thirty years. Enough evidence that we had a vintage jacket for our purposes. It didn’t occur to me at the time that most fashion conscious folks get rid of jackets before they are 30 plus years old, but I digress.
Rosemary asked for his name and promised to will the jacket to him after my demise. It was a bit presumptuous of her to assume that she would outlive me, after all, I am an avid swimmer as I like to tell anyone who will listen, was okay and that I would go along with that plan, but “whatever.”
I left the restaurant with my head a bit higher. I’m not getting old. I’m just vintage and I have the Member’s Only Jacket to prove it. Guess what I’ll be wearing to my swim club, men’s group and to death row at Angola today. I guess my importance will be lost on those audiences, but I’ll know. Vintage indeed. The masses are so clueless and I am so vintage cool.
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