Electric jacket

Today The Man and I went shopping for a jacket for me. I wanted one that would be good for wearing to work on my bicycle in winter - a waterproof windbreaker type that was also warm. They had a sale above the local supermarket so we went to look at them together. They were men's jackets, but I always buy men's ones here. On the women's jackets the sleeves are always too short.

I tried on several. Every time I thought I'd found one I liked The Man would find another one that might be better, and would insist that I tried it on. I'm happy with the one I ended up with. I'm particularly happy with the large and numerous pockets. I like pockets.

But you know how these jackets are often made of nylon or other artificial materials? And how those materials are very good for building up static? And remember what I said earlier about having a problem with static shocks in winter? Well, one thing I didn't say is that The Man has never been particularly sympathetic to this problem. He wasn't unsympathetic exactly; he just didn't take it very seriously. When I complained about it he sort of brushed it off, as if I were making too big a deal out of it.

Well, he takes it more seriously now, I can tell you. When I was taking off a particularly slippery nylon (or whatever) jacket, he reached over to help me, our fingers touched, and BZZZT! I gave us both a huge jolt. It was a good one. It made a nice loud crackling sound, too, and we leaped like jack-in-a-boxes. It was as good as the ones I get from the door handle at my Monday/Wednesday job (which, incidentally, has been giving me a very hard time since the weather got drier).

The expression on The Man's face was priceless. He looked shocked and indignant, as if I'd done it on purpose. You know how when you get an electric shock your immediate impulse is to fight back? Well, for a moment I thought he was going to hit me. He looked that mad. Then he stared at his hand disbelievingly.

I finished taking off the jacket, laughing and saying "See? That's what I've been telling you about!" and he reached out to take it, saying something about how he didn't realize it could be quite that powerful, that was a big one, eh - and as our fingers brushed it happened again. He was stunned into silence, and got that indignant face again. Then he started laughing, too.

We decided that that jacket probably wasn't a suitable one for me.

But I'm not sure whether the one I got is any better. I couldn't test it, because when I tried it on and reached out my hand to him he backed off as if my finger had turned into an electric cattle prod. Perhaps I'll just have to wear it to class one day, and test it on a student.