Zip it

Whilst greeting parents during a Parent’s Consultation Evening in the school’s main Hall my zip fly decided to break.

I was unaware until one parent (a father), who I thought was nodding furiously in agreement to what I was saying about their child, was actually trying to draw my attention to the problem.

The following half a dozen interviews were conducted with great care.  At the end of each interview I stood up and shook hands whilst angling my jacket strategically across the offending area.

During the staff refreshment break I managed to find a long arm stapler and a box of half inch shiny brass staples and made a temporary repair down the front of my trousers and up along the zip.

Despite the front of the trousers looking like a hashed up surgical mistake, I made my way down through the hall filled with parents and sat down for my next interview.

As I bent over to take my seat, there was a shower of brass staples  –  Repair unsuccessful !

At the end of the evening a concerned parent approached me to ask if all was well as he’d noticed I had been bent double when leaving the hall earlier.  I had to confide in him that my zip had broken on my trousers, to which he replied “Oh, that’s ok then as several parents  thought you had the runs”.