The Coat (From Asian Image)

The Coat

1:10pm Monday 15th December 2008

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There was something about the coat that I could never figure out. Did it come with the passport?

There was an endearing quality to that famous coat our mums used to wear. It could be 35 degrees outside but she had to wear the coat at all costs. I guess it was something you got used to after a while.

Spring, summer or winter the coat went with all the outfits. When it came to replace the coat with a new one there was a hush of expectancy. Would it have the right number of pockets? Would be the right length? Would it be beige?

But it didn’t stop there. Dads had a famous coat too which usually came in brown or blue and was always worn with a matching shalwar kameez and hush puppies.

It also usually looked best when it had been worn hundreds of times and the front pockets were about to give way.

And when the front zip wouldn’t close anymore, due to the wearer being too fat, it was fantastic how the individual concerned simply tied one button up.

As years went by I realised there were other parents who would wear the coat as if their life depended on it.

When I saw parents not wearing a coat I honestly thought there was something wrong with them.

The strange thing was when someone newly arrived from abroad he or she was immediately bought a coat. I knew several new arrivals who were presented with the coat at the airport.

This was especially true of daughter-in-laws who began to wear the coat with just as much gusto soon after their arrival.

“So my friend, I see you have a wife now. Have you bought her the coat?”

Then I saw the coats best friend make an appearance - the jumper. The jumper was usually white and dads made sure it came with shoulder and elbow patches.

But times are a changing my friends and some might say the days of the coat are numbered. As the age of the modern mums took hold the coat became a reminder of times gone-by.

All is not lost though. The proud coat-wearer can still be spotted on trips to the shopping centre. The colours may have changed and so too the designs there are many among us who simply will not let go of that magical, magnificent coat.

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