Around the globe several times. Almost a million domestic miles. This LL Bean bag was my sidearm/briefcase/work horse for about seven years. I bought it new at the (now closed) Portland, Maine outlet. Mrs. and I would get on the Downeaster at North Station and ride comfortably for $22 from Boston to Portland and spend a nice weekend eating, drinking, and puttering in and out of shops and tea houses in the dead of the Maine winter. At one restaurant, the waitress asked me how I wanted my eggs. Then she asked me if I wanted to have a drink with my coffee. I indicated that it was only 9am and I would not be drinking. She delivered the eggs and a small glass of nice Brandy, letting me know that I would be charged for it if there was anything left in the glass, but that it was gratis if consumed fully. My wife snickered at the jab and seemed to take the side of the waitress against me when the phrase "If you're up to it" was floated.
Back to the bag. It was there during many critical and pivotal career moments, it was at the hospital when Jr. was born, it was an overnight bag for single-night trips, and it plagued me with connectivity during vacations and trips to otherwise pleasant locations. It wasn't stylish and it seemed to attract stains. The black smears on the leather cover were from ink drops out of a broken ballpoint pen that Jr. had turned into a missile. The inside had pen marks, rips, abrasions, my name and phone number in permanent marker, and a small assortment of travel and business items like tea, ink cartridges, and pink tablets in case of food-poisoning.
I took it to LL Bean last week to request a replacement of a broken brass fitting that seemed to be beyond repair capabilities of the local brass andiron experts (yes, Boston has several). They said no, but if I gave it to them, they would give me a gift card (generously) worth the full original amount, and not the (fractional) amount I paid at the outlet.
As usual, the customer service was excellent, but I'm always torn between nostalgic thrift and the consumeristic "just get a new one if you're not completely satisfied". I was satisfied with the bag and didn't want a new one, but they are mostly unwilling to make repairs. "Why would you want to pay for a repair if you can just get a new one for free?" she asked me. Reluctantly, I surrendered it, thinking of all of those trips (both good and bad) and how it partially symbolized our family's steadfast cohesiveness throughout the challenges of frequent absences from business travel. With the fanfare of flushing a toilet, the clerk threw it into a bin behind the counter.
"Did they repair your bag?" asked Mrs. later that day.
"No, but they sent it to live on a farm upstate where it'll be much happier" I said.
I too prefer to keep the items that I buy. Just a month ago I sent back a pair of wool-lined L.L. Bean boots that had come unstitched at the heels after only a year of wearing them. As a long shot, I requested that they be repaired instead of being replaced. To my great surprise they did indeed repair them, and at no cost. This is what happens when they make their own products. I had a simliar experience with my mother's 40 year old Ghurka pocketbook. I was able to get it repaired (by the very person who had made it, no less). I didn't want a new one. I wanted my mother's. Then there is Queen Elizabeth who, when offered a new Barbour by Dame Margaret in celebration of her silver jubilee, said she preferred to have her old one re-proofed.
ReplyDelete*Lady Aldrich:
DeleteI imagine that with their boots, restitching would be possible and easy. You were lucky!
Well, you can assume its ghost to have reincarnated in the form of this newer bag, carrying forward the legacy of its former self.
ReplyDeleteThe new one is a roomier Swedish number fr Baron, and its off to a great start with 15k miles on it in 2 weeks.
Deletea bit sad
ReplyDeleteWhat's sad is my dumb attachment to an inanimate object. I surprised myself with my sentimentality.
DeleteActually - a good smith could have fashioned a new buckle, had it plated and back on your bag within a week...
ReplyDeleteIt unfortunately wasn't the buckle. It was a tiny spring-pin that held the strap's bit to the ridge dowel, and both went. I would have been in it for over $100, so I "sent it to the farm".
DeleteSo many thoughts from that entry.
ReplyDeleteYou're wrong to upbraid yourself for "dumb attachment to an inanimate object," and for so many reasons that you yourself have articulated that I'm hard pressed on where to begin. There are objects and objects. One of the principle values you espouse here (and, I assume, elsewhere) is the value of quality. Items from Bean's that retain that attribute also carry their commitment to service (about which more below) and so are symbolic of all that is now "[n]ot as good as it was but better than it will be."
The satisfaction of owning a useful, high-quality item is one of the first emotions to alight upon that object and to begin to animate it. That first dusting of *elan vital* attracts further motes of life: the memories that attach themselves to the bag -- both visibly and by simple association -- and elevate it from object to talisman. There's no shame in that; everything needs a home, even past grains of sand.
Keeping these objects is akin to keeping photo albums; they help keep our memories alive. As I begin to notice that I'm growing older (not yet ready to say "aging"), I begin to want those things around me more. So "pfft" to your concern over "sentimentality."
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I think M.A., above, has pinpointed the crux of your issue (and of course you know this already): LLBean doesn't likely make the bag, and so would need to retain someone capable of repairing it -- at much greater cost to them than simply supplying you with a new one. It's nice to take advantage of their guarantee but as noted by Anonymous@2:37, sometimes if you want to keep something you've got to seek out a tradesman. I've had these guys recommended to me -- plus you get a trip to Damariscotta out of the deal. Forcing the global economy into a local model does take some finagling. Keeping a mailhouse retailer alive has led to some unfortunate concessions -- exchange over repair being only one.
One of the others was closing the Portland outlet. Their stated reason -- that it didn't get enough foot traffic -- I though to be utter BS. I understand it as a cost center, maybe, but I sure liked having it there. As a former Portinsula resident, I was a little panicked at the empty storefront and very glad when Reny's moved in. They seem to make out just fine.
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Man, do I miss Portland sometimes. 555 is good but Hot Suppa, Bintliff's, and The Front Room all outdo it for breakfast, IMO. I've yet to visit any city where so much good food and drink can be had so close together. I could go on and on (and on) about it. If you've got the itch some time, hit up Cafe Ohno on Brackett St. in the West End for a breakfast sandwich -- #1 is my favorite: Egg, prosciutto, maple syrup, hot sauce on a bagel. Or #8 (I think): grilled hanger steak, egg, cheddar. No brandy, alas. Closed Mondays.
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The train to Portland was and is a particular hobby-horse of mine. Where in the hell was Maine's political leadership when the Big Dig was being planned -- and funded in part with Federal Transportation dollars? That you can't get to Maine from anywhere south of Boston by train without getting off at South Station, somehow getting yourself and your luggage across the city, and boarding a second train is a public transportation felony. It's a crime against decent planning and it's essentially highway robbery of the state of Maine by the Commonwealth (at least if you live there) of Massachusetts. It's an outrage.
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If your bag did indeed get sent to a farm upstate, it may have been saved by these guys, a very good outfit we're trying to model ourselves after.
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That's it. Sorry to hi-jack your space.
*JKG: its a wonder that you and my friend Plum aren't friends as well, because your excellent writing and wit are pleasantly similar. Your frustration about the transfer in Boston is correct, but you are encouraged to visit the way-station within the city when you are next making the trek. The liquor supply is bountiful and the host will tell dumb jokes.
DeleteI'm also a big fan of hanging on to well made things rather than replacing them. Luckily we have a great local shoe repair man who can work wonders on shoes, boots and handbags. I'm really curious as to why they made you turn in the bag in exchange for the gift card. Couldn't they have just let you take it back with you?
ReplyDeleteBonnie
The lack of a North Station South Station rail link is just ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI brought a pair of high school era bluchers to the Freeport store about 15 years ago, asking to have the sole replaced on one, since it had ripped clean in half. I was prepared to pay, as it was entirely my fault. They handed me the voucher for a new pair and tossed my old pair into a box. I hope they make friends with your bag on the farm upstate.
I have two pairs of Cole Haan loafers - brown and black - that I've had over 25 years. They are almost broken in. I had them both re-soled by a wonderful shop in Highland Park, Texas. I am so pleased to be able to do that. We Southerners are also thrifty and appreciate well made items. We must have Yankee ancestors way, way, way back. :-)
ReplyDelete