Red F.O.P. Jacket Blues

 (circa November of 2017)
 
I ran for Town Council in 2006.
At a fund raiser, a silent auction
was run,  and I put in $20 for a
red winter jacket donated by the
Fraternal Order of Police with
its F.O.P. patch on it.
 
I won the jacket in the auction.
 
I normally have my hair cut short,
the 1.5 blade for my sides and
many think I am former military
or a police officer.  Fine with me,
keeps undesirables away from me
who don’t know me.  Some may
even think I am packing some “heat.”
 
In November of 2017,  I grab my jacket,
and tow the pull tab on the slider south to
the retaining box,  placing the zipper pin into
the box and begin yanking on the
pull sliding tab north to connect the
elements also known as zipper teeth.
 
In the zipping glide action, the pull tab
 breaks off the slide, and in my hand is
 now the disconnected zipper tab. 
 
My soft-handed professional fingers
have nothing to grip to connect and
un-connect my zipper teeth. 
 
I declare I am depressed.  I love my
red FOP jacket.  What to do?  As I am
thinking,  I pull out my car keys, and
realize I can use a car key ring
as an emergency pull tab until I
get the jacket to the town seamstress.
 
On a Saturday morning,  I call the
local business, and I ask the seamstress
if she can fix my jacket.  She says,  “Oh,
we recommend you use a car key ring
to replace your pull tab.” I guess great
minds think alike.
 
We live in the computer age, and thanks
to You Tube and the internet  (if we still
have net neutrality in the near future),  and
a product called Zipper Mend.
 
I order the product for $4.50 and my red
F.O.P. jacket will be as right as rain in the
near future.