I think I haven't been more pissed about anything in my recent memory than I am right now.
So when I moved out here, I left a lot of stuff behind- I got my job on such a short notice and I was broke at the time, so everything got packed in boxes and put in storage. My parent's place is huge so I stored a lot of things there in their unfinished basement. I have some valuable things there- my Yamaha Stage Custom drum kit with accessories- worth well over $2K.. my old Porsche.. worth a good amount also....
and my 1982 Joe Rocket Leather motorcycle jacket- the only one I have ever found in existence. I bought it a few years ago off of ebay for a steal. It was in need of some repairs... but I soon found it was worth everything I thought it was and more. I posted on here and some motorcycle forums looking for anyone who had ever seen the same jacket. I have yet to find another Joe Rocket jacket exactly like that one. There are some others that are close (Vinny used to have a similar one) but none that were the same.
Being here in LA, there are a lot of small specialty shops and I figured I could find one that would specialize in restoring old leather jackets. It needed some stitching and maybe the leather re-dyed. I was willing to put some money into it, because I had seen similar limited edition vintage Joe Rocket jackets selling for $3-400.
I'm talking to my mother tonight on the phone and I bring up the idea of shipping the jacket out here so that I can take it to a shop to get restored.
Then she tells me probably the single most infuriating thing I think I've head from her:
She threw it out.
This was my single favorite article of clothing I have ever had in my entire life. I had to leave it there in Missouri as it weighs quite a bit and can't be folded up, and all my bags were at the brink of exploding.
So I freak out. I know I have told her in the past how much that jacket is potentially worth and more importantly how much it means to me. I remember her saying before how she didn't like it because she thought it looked tacky (it screams 80's) but how it looked isn't for her to decide and throwing it out should had not been a decision she should have made.
So amidst my freaking out I ask over and over again if she can get it back and she says no, over and over.
Then finally she says well they didn't quite throw it out, but they gave it to this senile old lady who's farm my father goes and visits and she had taken it and put it out on her scarecrow in her garden, because, you know, it's bright colored and all. And it's been out there. in the rain. For weeks. I can't believe this. It would be one thing to take it to goodwill. But to knowingly RUIN THE JACKET COMPLETELY?
I'm literally in tears as I type this. I can't really think of any other possession I have that I would be this upset about. Anything else- ANYTHING I could just re-buy. Drums, cars, books, anything. But not THIS JACKET.
So my father is damn well going to go out tomorrow to get that jacket back regardless of how ruined it is. I really don't have a lot of hope right now. I just wish somehow I could have forgotten about the jacket (which I never would have) and never known about this.
