BulletProof

What is the lifespan of a bulletproof vest? What factor come into play? It’s the user, the kind of bullets shot, how many shots it’s taken, do you just know when it’s done, do you use different ones depending on the situation? Sometimes I feel like I was born with a bullet proof vest, that we all were. Do you ever feel like you’re wearing a bulletproof vest, emotionally? I started this year by saying “I can’t take anymore, please don’t give me more.” Every time I say I can’t take more, I get more, and I just take it. Every. Single. Time. All I can compare the feeling to is what I assume being shot though a bullet proof vest feels like, it fucking hurts, but you’re not dead. I should be so much worst that I am, in reality, I think I’m doing pretty well, considering. You go though life and bullshit after bullshit keeps “shooting” you and you just take it. Every time you get “shot” in your vest you feel it, it knocks the wind out of you, your ribs are bruised, sometimes cracked; but, you get back up (if you’r like me, yell FUCK!), and keep it pushing. For the next few days your bruises are painful, if someone comes near you, or touches you, you get upset. If someone reminds you of those times you got “shot” you worry, that it’ll happen again, that the vest might not stop it next time. Sometimes, those old wounds start hurting out of nowhere, and it reminds you of all the “bullets” your vest has caught, but it leads you to wonder, how much life your vest still has, and where you can get another. How can you prevent it from giving up on you?

Just for the record, a bulletproof vest can last up to 4 years. People who use them on a daily basis, get a new one when theirs no longer performs the way it should, and regardless after 4 years. Does that make you think differently, that after 4 years, you can replace your “bulletproof” vest?