Berlin – The winter holidays are coming up in Berlin when the zipper on the winter jacket breaks. That wouldn’t be wild if it were a jacket from us parents. We’d go to one of the ailing department stores in town and buy something that would last a few years. But it’s the kid’s jacket that grows fast. Two days later, his second winter jacket also gets out. Damn.
We bought the jackets extra large. And they almost survived the second season. Should we buy a jacket in January that we won’t need until November and might then be too small?
A seamstress in our neighborhood says that she doesn’t make any changes, just re-tailors. But with her cumulative life experience, she knows: “Changing the zipper is economic nonsense. Costs at least 30 euros.” Just as much as a jacket.
Madness: 99.9 percent of the jacket is in excellent condition, but one tiny thing makes it unusable. But what about the €120 jacket that we hoped would last longer? She talks about her son’s jacket, which she bought extra expensive in a specialist shop. “The zipper broke after six weeks. And in the store they actually said: The zipper doesn’t belong with the jacket. As a wearing part, it is no reason for a complaint.” She laughs and points to the Vietnamese tailor around the corner.
The man politely invites me into the tiny shop, but refuses to name the price of the work. “Too expensive,” he says. “Far too expensive.” He picks up the jacket and his glasses, then examines the long line of tiny teeth known as the staples. Then the other. “Everything is fine.” Now he looks at the small slider in the middle, in which the two rows of teeth are joined. “Ah,” he says. “Stretched out.” He grabs the pliers and reduces the gap through which the teeth run on the slide. “Done,” he says after five seconds.
“How much money can I give you?” I ask. He says: “No money.” I thank him profusely, because now one less jacket has to be born and disposed of. The man prevented ecological nonsense and doesn’t even want money for it. I’m looking for a pair of pants that he can tailor.