Zipperless

February 25, 2024

So dependent are we on fastening. Zippers, buttons, snaps, grips, knots, threads, and stitching. Blithely assuming, trusting. I sit regarding my winter jacket of some years. Stains and grub, here, there. Easily washed. Ragged cuffs, waistline. Evidence of good and bad past adventures successfully challenged. Damages born and worn with affection. Years of service left; it's still warm, wind resistant, sheds light moisture. And yet, as these two zippers croak, the coat is broke.

“Right to Repair!” he wails.

“Sure, go ahead” it says. There's no law, policy, or rule against.

Appropriate parts, he lacks. Fitting tools, are not present. Skills, be absent.

Each are obtainable.

But the DIY result will be crude, cobbled together, obviously home-made, not showing the Fit And Finish to which he is enamored and accustomed.

Somehow believing a single individual could and should achieve the same as a team of designers & engineers & builders & shippers & clerks, he quits.