First, the Background.One of the jobs of being a teacher in my school is to direct the traffic during the early-morning parent drop-off. This is quite a stressful job, because everyone wants to show that their BMW is the fastest, and that crosswalk laws don't apply to people who are late for their manicure. The person in my school who does this job is a lovely lady named Gilda, and I have always admired how she does the job with such cheer.
One morning, a particularly cold morning, we talked as I crossed the traffic under her careful supervision. We observed that she'd be warmer with mittens, but of course they would need to be bright orange, so that she could direct traffic with them.
A few days later I happened to be shopping at my favorite woodsy online shoppe (read all about how great their customer service is here); I discovered a pair of fleecy orange mittens on sale, and had them sent to her at school. They arrived in just a few days, and Gilda came to my classroom waving her mitten-clad hands happily, thanking me.
Now comes the strange part of the tale.
This past week, whenever I arrived at school, I saw Gilda directing traffic, sporting her new orange mittens. This made me happy, because I like when people actually use a gift that I give them, which is rare. But on Tuesday, I observed that she seemed to be putting the mittens on as I approached the school. It didn't really capture my attention too much, until I saw her doing the same thing on Thursday. I began to think ... could it be that she was actually just putting the mittens on for me to see?
Sure enough ... I went inside, but about two minutes later peeked out the windows and saw, to my utter dismay, that she had other mittens on and the orange one was sticking out of her pocket. How odd! Why would she only put the mittens on for me to see?!?!?!
I don't even know how to think about this. It is so very strange that I don't know whether I should be flattered, offended, or what. I suppose I'm supposed to feel just the way I feel, which is a giant "Huh?!?"... not to mention that the preferred mittens are bright yellow, therefore highly visible, and possibly warmer. So I can understand that. But why the charade?
On another note, here are some of the pictures you can find if you Google "orange mitten":
