This is highly recommended, a series where I provide a compelling argument for why you should like something that I like.

Dear Reader,

A while ago, I heard this story about Edward Tillingham, the man who invented pockets. Apparently, Tillingham had a problem with losing things. Like, everything - his keys, his wallet, his eyeglasses. Nothing was ever where it needed to be. Instead of getting better at keeping track of his things, Tillingham just kept buying new items every time he lost them. He was damn near broke when, while passing by a rose bush, his pants got caught on a thorn and ripped right along his thigh, leaving a hand-sized gap. As he yelled “fucking damn it, these pants are brand new”, Tillingham’s eyeglasses fell off his head and managed to lodge themselves in the pants opening, stored in a hands-free way that had previously been unavailable. Tillingham knew he had stumbled onto something worth sharing.

He told his friend William Brewster, a local tailor, about his new invention: the “pack-it.” William Brewster stole the idea, changed the name just enough not to make it obvious, and started producing pants with “pockets”. He made millions of dollars and Edward Tillingham died broke and alone.

Now, all of that is total bullshit. But pockets are not.

I highly recommend pockets.

Why?

Mobile Storage

One of the major negatives of leaving your house is that you have to bring things with you. Walking out the front door with your phone, wallet and keys spells certain disaster in more ways than one. And when you’ve got all that shit, you need somewhere to put it. Bags are fine, but at the end of the day, you’re still carrying something. Storage that moves with you is always more preferred.

Decreased Need For Bags

Like I said, bags are fine. I’ve got all sorts of bags that perform different functions. (Will I write a highly recommended on bags when I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t have much else to recommend? Probably.) But having to perpetually carry around a bag weighs on you. (Sometimes literally. HAHAHA good joke.) When I’m unencumbered by a tote or backpack, I’m free to move where I need to move with little issue. No getting caught on subway turnstiles. No hitting people in the face when slinging the thing onto your back. No shoulder and arm fatigue. (Maybe that leads to more pocket fatigue, but I think pockets can handle it.)

Hidden

I’m not one of those “put tape over my webcam because I’m concerned about my privacy” kind of guys, but it would be weird for everyone to see everything that I was storing in my pockets. It’s not that I’m hiding anything untoward. It’s just that pockets feel very personal. They feel like a space where you can hide a knife or a joint or a wad of cash or things that are legally ambiguous without having to explain yourself.  

Designated Hand Zones

Most of the time, hands are very useful. This might be an over-exaggeration, but I’m just not sure what I would do without my hands. However, there are moments where my hands aren’t necessary and I’m not entirely sure what to do with them. (I saw some dudes standing around with their hands behind their backs this weekend and it just weirded me out. Not a big fan of that position.) Pockets are the perfect resting place for temporarily useless hands.

Different Sizes

I’m sure you’re well aware that the stuff you have to carry around is not all the same size. (Who made that decision?) Luckily, pockets are not all the same size. I’ve got pockets big enough for my iPhone 7 Plus (love that big screen, baby), pockets small enough for a couple quarters, pockets just right enough for the handkerchief that serves as my chief defense against subway sweat. And that’s just in the pants. Once you get into advanced pocket use (with jackets, shirts, hats, shoes, etc.), you can find a pocket that’s the perfect size for anything. I’m glad that all pants have pockets. But I’m even more glad that they’re not all the same size.

There’s got to be one thing you don’t like about pockets.

Not Super Organized

As wide and wonderful as the size variability on pockets is, shoving things inside your pants isn’t always perfect. If I have multiple things in the front right pocket of my pants, there’s a 100% chance I’m not going to pull out the thing I want on the first try. You might say this is due to user error. I might say that’s a little mean, because it is.

You know who was mean? William Brewster, from the story above. Every good story needs some sort of villain, some sort of conflict that keeps pushing the whole thing forward. But I think we can all agree that while William Brewster was a giant piece of shit, he’s the reason we all have pockets. And if we can’t agree on that, we all know that the story I wrote above wasn’t even really that clever. I should probably stick to recommendations instead of fiction. Or has all of this been fiction all along?

love,

nicholas