If in doubt, don't

I hesitate these days before posting about something domestic or personal because the political situation - national and global - is so desperate. 

But everyday life still goes on with its joys and difficulties and dilemmas, so here goes…

You remember the red versus blue coat issue?

The day after I bought the red coat (which all but one people online said I should go for) I was still wondering: did I make the right decision?

I liked the red, but there was SO MUCH red. I mean, it wasn’t just a waist-length jacket. 

I told myself I was being lily-livered about the change. Just because 80% of my clothes are blue did not mean it should always be that way. So I stuck with it. Some days it brought me joy and some days I felt overwhelmed by it...as though it was the red coat walking down the lane, rather than me walking down the lane.

A week after I bought it, Dave and I were walking back from Hassop Station along the Trail when he said, out of nowhere: "You can have the blue coat if you want, you know."

I was startled. I said: "I know you hate this red coat." 

"Yes, but that’s not the point. I know you’re not keen on it."

"How do you know?"

"You usually go on about new clothes. You're usually excited about them. You haven’t been excited about the red coat. You just bought it home from the shop and hung it on the hook in the hall. No dancing around saying Isn't this fab!"

"You’re right. But I do like it, just not as much as I thought I would. I think it swamps me. The red does suit me, but not so much red. It’s too in-your-face. And the blue one really suited me.  I thought the red one because I thought it was more fun.

"Well, go and buy a new one. A blue one."

"I can’t! Think of the money!"  

(You should be aware that Dave still thinks you can get a decent jumper for a fiver. So this offer was startling, as well as incredibly generous.)

He went on: "It’s all running away in inflation anyway - go and get the blue coat. Get it today. I’m going to Bakewell to get my meds so I’ll get it for you."

"No, really, don’t. I ought to make do with the red one."

More insistence and nagging from Dave.

I said: "I was a little bit doubtful the day after I bought it. I have this maxim - learned from experience - “if in doubt, don’t” - and I ignored it with the coat."

"So go and buy the blue one!"

"But it’s so extravagant! I shan’t be able to tell anyone. I’ll be so ashamed."

Reader, you need to know that I love new clothes but I still have old ones I wear every year. For example I still wear a pair of Racing Green chinos and two Racing Green T shirts I bought in the '90s.

"Well, if you're ashamed, don’t tell anyone."

"I could wear the red coat to town and for trips, and the blue one for walks."

"Whatever! Go and get the blue one."

Reader…I did. And now I have two coats. My last Seasalt coat lasted me for 9 years, so these will last me 18 years - until I am 92.

This morning we walked out together, me in the blue coat because it was a country walk with Dave, and I said "Do you feel more comfortable with me in the blue coat?"

"I wouldn't say more comfortable, but when you wore the red one it was like having a boil on my nose or a splinter in my bum."