Have you ever watched your friend’s face disappear into someone else’s winter coat?

No? Let me explain.

I was at American Flatbread with some mom-friends a few winters ago when this absurd thing happened. It was a busy night for the restaurant. The tables and chairs were crammed in a little tighter than usual. The people at the table beside us were getting ready to leave.

I watched them all stand up, push in their chairs, linger a bit. They were directly behind my friend, who was engrossed in conversation with the rest of our group. So she didn’t notice when these strangers behind her began pulling their coats and scarves off the backs of their chairs and putting them on.

That’s when a long black coat dropped like a shroud over my friend’s face. And I realized in an instant she was being zipped inside the back of some woman’s apparently quite roomy coat. And the woman had no idea there was someone else in the coat with her! She was facing the other way!

I had an unobstructed view as this woman — who remained completely unaware of the significant contribution she was making to my physical comedy lived experience — simply walked away, the coat sliding up and gracefully off of my friend, who sat there for a second in shock before we all exploded in laughter.

One of the best things about winter’s arrival, and the return of our big, long heavy coats, is that I can reenact this ridiculous moment for my kids whenever I want. Whenever we need a little pick-me-up, a little surprise joy, I can stand behind them, drop down my coat and “accidentally” zip them in.

Thankfully they love it as much as I do.