 But he'd since stopped wearing it because, he told us, the button was coming loose. He held up the malingering button and began to pull it away from its place on the shirt. He pulled and pulled and the button got further and further away. Now as an adult thinking about this, I've come to appreciate the behind-the-scenes work that must have gone into this object lesson that morning. Because I've since seen a button come unraveled in the wild.