[Current Culture] Father and Padding, That Winter Was Warm

It suddenly got very cold a few days ago. I went to a department store to buy a padded jacket but left without buying anything. It was just too expensive. To think I had to pay hundreds of thousands of won for a single piece of clothing. Now that I think about it, that was only the second time in my life I went to buy such clothes.

About ten years ago, when I was thirty-one and my child had just turned one, my father called. He said he was passing nearby and would stop by for a moment. It seemed it was almost the first time he came alone from Seoul to Wonju or passed through that area. At that time, my father took me in his car and went to a department store downtown. He said he wanted to buy me a winter coat. Suddenly, out of nowhere, why clothes? We walked a few meters with the most awkward expressions and gestures in the world through the men's clothing section and entered a store. At least it was a brand both he and I knew.

My father asked the salesperson to show some winter clothes, saying it had to be warm. The salesperson brought out a red padded jacket, saying it was a popular new product these days. Until then, I had been layering thin windbreakers or wearing a winter jumper I bought in high school. That new padded jacket was light and warm. My father asked if it looked okay on me, and I replied that it was fine. He then said to the salesperson, "Then that's good, please wrap this up." The price was 800,000 won. That was more expensive than all the clothes I had ever bought, and it was probably more expensive than the total of all the clothes I had bought over several years. You shouldn't spend that much money on a single piece of clothing. The average monthly salary I received from part-time lectures at the university was exactly 800,000 won. When I made a face like, "This is too expensive," my father ignored it and handed his card to the salesperson. He dropped me off in front of my house, handed me the shopping bag with the padded jacket, said thank you, and left for Seoul. Since then, he always told me thank you.

Even though my situation in life was not something to be thankful for him, he still said that. My wife gave me a pitying look and asked why I asked him to buy a jacket that cost 800,000 won.

Not long after buying that padded jacket, winter came. It was an unusually cold winter. At that time, I worked a logistics loading and unloading part-time job at McDonald's in the morning, lectured at the university at noon, and wrote papers in the lab in the evening. When I woke up at 6:30 a.m. and went outside, it was a frozen dawn all around. It was amazing that the car started. The car windows were covered with frost. Without much thought, I sprayed washer fluid, but it froze immediately, and I couldn't see ahead. I grabbed my driver's license and went out to scrape the ice off.

That winter was cold but warm. Wearing the padded jacket my father bought felt like going out wrapped in a blanket. This year, I will first take out and wear that padded jacket again. Although my financial situation has improved enough to buy a padded jacket, I still hesitate to reach for one. My father, who used to buy me padded jackets, likes Sundaeguk (Korean blood sausage soup). Even when he wanted to eat the special portion, he ate the regular one. Considering his son's situation, he simply couldn't bring himself to order the special. But now he says he eats the special. Well, then, this winter I should go buy a padded jacket. That way, he can at least eat a plate of boiled pork without worry, not just the special Sundaeguk.

Kim Minseop, Social and Cultural Critic