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Help, please?

Zippers should be outlawed in elementary schools. The dress code should include: “No Coats, Jackets, or Sweaters with Zippers Allowed”. They constantly get stuck as they catch on that inner lining and refuse to move, either up or down. I help kids with zippers at least every other day. (I do admit it’s getting better now that the weather is warmer, fewer coats, fewer zipper problems.)

But it happened again last week. As the morning bell rang, he found me and asked if I could help him with his jacket zipper. He was a little sheepish about asking, but he clearly needed assistance. He had zipped it all the way up and it caught on that inner lining. He was trapped. It was awkward, his chin in the way, I didn’t want to slip and punch him in the jaw. I struggled for a minute, hoping I wouldn’t have to ask him to pull it up over his head as is so often the case.

I worked that zipper patiently until it finally let loose of the liner and unzipped. He was happy to be free, and I was happy to help.

“Thank you Ms. Brugmann,” he said.

“You’re welcome Mr. M,” I replied. “And don’t be embarrassed, we all need help sometimes…Just for the record though, you are the first teacher I’ve rescued from a jacket.”

He smiled and headed off to find his students.

Posted in School Life.


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