The coat I got from my Vancouver friend for Christmas is a really nice coat, a fancy coat by all accounts, by my standards. It's a three piece ski jacket, with hood. I liked it. But when I put it on, the sleeves came to mid forearm. I was so disappointed.
There was no gift receipt inside. I contacted my friend by e-mail. She's in the middle of a family crisis of sorts. Her daughter's baby is trying to come out way too early. She's been hospitalized with leaking water, as they try to allow Karson to get more time in the womb before emergence.
She sent me a copy of the receipt and that's when I trucked off to Fred Meyer, anticipating no problems at all. They refused to take back the coat. It was the manager's call. She could have said yes. The problem: the receipt was a copy.
They offered me instead a gift card worth considerably less than the coat was bought for. I was shocked and said "but that's like stealing from my friend." If I'd then tried to get a larger size of the same coat in their store, I would have had to shell out my own money. The coat I was returning, all tags still hanging, would have been hung right back on the rack too at a price higher than what they gave me in return. Seems like a great big huge scam.
When I got home, I called up my friend, to let her know. My friend said she would call Freddies last night and call me back. She didn't call back. I assume she got nowhere. I'm sending the coat by mail back to her today to let her deal with it at the Freddies up there where she bought the coat.
I could have used a coat. But I have two coats now. I have a blue coat I bought in the 80's at Kmart. I've worn it every winter since. I know, I can hear people groan, it's older than many people I know. I am not fashion minded, I'll tell you right now. One can't be in my shoes. I wear what I've got and I'm interested only in function these days. Almost all my shirts are T-shirts and some of those are ancient. If I see clothing, my first thoughts are: How long will that last? Is it made well? Will it hold up?
That old Kmart coat has held up, for decades. I can't argue with its durability. Good looking? Not so much. It looked good once. It's warm still, and sheds light rain, even though not technically waterproof.
The other coat I have doesn't fit, but it's too big rather than too small, so I wear it. I got it at Value Village and it is a Lands End coat, light in weight, not warm, but good when layering! It breaks the wind and if I need warmth too, I add something underneath. It has a few stains which may be why someone left it off there in a donation box at one point. It works for me.
I would have loved a stylish functional coat. It wasn't to be. I have two perfectly functioning coats already. I shouldn't be greedy. Nobody needs three coats in their closet.
I am a warm blooded person. I don't wear a coat when others are freezing. I've always been that way.
What makes me happy is that my friend thought of me and took all that trouble to pick out a coat then to mail it to me in the midst of holiday madness and having her own family and being so busy.
Now that is something to think about. With a smile.
As I grow older, different things are important to me. Just to think about someone going through a rack of coats, hundreds of miles from me, with me in mind, warms my soul more than any coat ever would.
Old coats I find are like old friends--comforting, warm, familiar.
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