The Story: A tale of red mittens

Day 11 of the 2010 Vancouver Games

To: Jessica

I did a good deed today.

I've had a pair of those red Olympic mittens since the end of November 2009. My mother worked at a Zellers, and has a fairly bad habit of buying into popular fads. These cute-sy, red mittens had been selling like hot-cakes at her store in Scarborough. And at an extremely affordable ten dollars, this was an easy gift option for shoppers.

She's always been aware of my pride as a Canadian, and has long known my intention to volunteer at the Olympics in Vancouver. So when the second shipment came in, she snagged a pair of small adult red mittens for me, with the intention of me using them in Vancouver.

I love Olympic paraphernalia and am the proud owner of a t-shirt, toque, sweater and scarf, all blazing red. So to get these mitts were a great addition to my growing collection of red pride. And they were fantastic. So much so, that I wasn't even willing to wait to use them in Vancouver. I properly wore them for the first time back when the Olympic Torch made its way into Toronto on a cold December evening. It shocked me how warm they were for a pair of knit mitts as I waved them proudly as the torch ran past me. It also shocked me how many people shared my love for them.

But my continued use of those lovely mittens took its tole on them as they began to take on a worn appearance. The greatest majority of the damage in fact came while doing one of the most Canadian of all things; filming a minor league hockey tournament in Etobicoke for RogersTV over the winter break.

The leaf on the palms were no longer so white, and the wool was no longer so crisp. And as January rolled around, my mother took one look at my now much loved, but much abused mittens and dismayed. They looked so ratty and old now, she pouted. How could I have managed to have worked them into such poor shape?

So the following day she came home with a second pair, and told me not to wear them until I arrived in Vancouver. Dutifully, I put them aside before packing them into my suitcase to Whistler.

I wore the new ones once. Maybe it was because I brought my old, ratty mittens with me to Vancouver as well and I simply felt more inclined to wear those. Perhaps it was me wishing to keep the second pair from getting dirty. Either way, I don't know why I'd use them as infrequently as I did. I only know that they sat at the bottom of my backpack for days.

Arlene is a Californian school teacher and fellow press assistant at Whistler Olympic Park. She's also my "bus buddy" most days from the venue. Today, she told me in the bus on the way back to Whistler from the Park that it looked like she wouldn't be able to get a pair of those nice red mittens everyone loves. I turned to her, curious, and asked her if she wanted a pair.

She did. Apparently, a friend of hers told her that she had to come back with a pair. "They said that they're the hottest things and that I had to get a pair!" she told me. "Oprah apparently had them on her show last week."

Now that caught my attention. "Oprah?" I exclaimed. "Oprah mentioned those red mittens?"

"Yeah! Apparently she totally loves them and said they are the "it" items of the Vancouver Olympics," was the response.

I may not be into day-time television talk shows, but I'm not so dense as to not know that when Oprah says good things about anything, they suddenly become blockbusters for the next five months. Oprah promoting those mittens on her show is paramount to winning a gold medal in marketing.

The Hudson Bay Company seriously hit the jackpot on this one.

"Have you asked the Olympic Store in Whistler?" I asked her.

"Yeah, and they told me that people line-up at 8:30 AM in the morning to grab any that they happen to stock that day. They're sold out in the first hour," she sighed. "There's no way I can get them given their popularity."

I looked down at my backpack in front of me, the backpack that carried my little used second pair. This wasn't the first time I had heard that story told in British Columbia. Apparently the frenzy over those mittens has escaladed in Vancouver to the point that people were beginning to steal them. As if people weren't already crazy about them to begin with, this had only made things more insane.

I had been thinking for a time to give those mittens away to someone. It just felt wrong to have two pairs when so many people couldn't get even a single pair for themselves. And it's a shame, as they are a great part of our Canadiana, and an effective piece in which to share in the Olympic spirit that seemed to be embodied in these bright hand warmers.

I opened my bag and pulled them out. "Here," I said. "You can have these. I have a second pair, and these ones I've really only worn once."

At first she refused. But when I explained that I had very little use in owning two pairs, she then graciously accepted them and immediately put them on, marvelling at their warmth. I could see on her face, it wasn't so much the popularity or the novelty that those mittens had acquired since Oprah made them bigger than big, it was the compassion involved in recieving them. But that is simply a part of what these mittens represent.

Plus, what do I need an identical pair for anyway?

Cheers!

Grace

PS. I heard that you too are now looking for a pair yourself. Wish you made that decision before I left for Vancouver, because my mom could have easily gotten you a pair without so much of the hassle that's going on now. Take Marty's mom's advice though, as she did that search before. And I wish you good luck. No really. This is Oprah we're talking about here.