07/20/2010 - The mysteries surrounding a thrift store blazer

Sheena and I saw this blazer in a thrift store last week and began to wonder.

What were the circumstances surrounding it's arrival?

Was it donated out of charity or necessity?

How long had it been hanging there?

How many times was it worn prior to it's arrival?

Is it haunted?

I find thrift stores kind of eerie. The aisles are packed with items from a by gone era. These items were once loved and proudly displayed but now collect dust as they slip further and further into obscurity. For every scrap of clothing I try to imagine what the prior owner looked like the first time they donned the garment in question. I also try to imagine the timeline of piece of clothing. The blazer was no different.

We spent about thirty or forty minutes in the thrift store. We observed clothes, furniture, toys, and nic-nacs. During our exploration, I couldn't help but go back to the blazer. What was it about this seemingly useless article of clothing that kept drawing me back? It fascinated me beyond belief. I was almost tempted to buy it. The garment itself didn't impress me. It was old, dusty, and too small for me to fit in. I would never wear it. The blazer served absolutely no use to me.

This fascination led me to create my own story about the history of this mysterious blazer. I imagined it as a Christmas gift. A young man receives this blazer from a woman. The man and woman are madly in love with each other. The blazer instantly becomes his favorite item of clothing. He wears it everywhere. It becomes a staple of his wardrobe. The blazer is almost synonymous with him. Over time the woman begins to dislike the blazer and fall out of love with the man. The woman leaves the man and all he has left to remember her is the blazer. The man keeps the blazer because it is his only link to the woman he loves. Soon the man falls on hard times and starts picking up bad habits. To support his habit he starts selling off his possessions. He sells all of his possessions except for the blazer. With nothing left to sell the man must choose between his habit and the blazer. In the end he chooses his habit over the memory of his lost love and sells the blazer to the thrift store. The man purchases drugs with the money he receives for the blazer to support his habit. He overdoses that night.

Six months later, the woman visits the thrift store and sees the blazer. She begins to cry. . .

- I guess we'll never know how it got there. . .