For some reason it was what stood out most for me during the inauguration ceremonies yesterday. Most people were dressed for show. You know. For most of the men it was a proper overcoat and stylish leather gloves.
But it seemed to be a chilly day in Washington yesterday. Bernie Sanders was dressed to stay warm. Big puffy parka and… mittens. Not just any mittens. These were obviously hand knit mittens with a very cool pattern. And they sort of matched his parka.
People have gone crazy over Bernie’s mittens. First, they became the first big meme of the Biden era. Bernie’s mittens were almost the star of the show. Not to take away from the very moving words of Amanda Gorman and her excellent poem. Or any of the performers. But Bernie looked pretty warm. Those were some nice looking mittens.
And it gets better. They mittens were made by a school teacher in Vermont, who gave then to her Senator as a gift. There have been a lot of people who would like to get their hands of mittens like those… or maybe that should be get their hands IN a pair of mittens like those. But she’s not about to give up teaching and take up knitting full time. She’s already been getting tons of people wanting to order mittens, but she’s really not in the mitten business. So mittens exactly like those are not available.
And not only that, but, very fitting for a person like Bernie, the mittens are made from repurposed sweaters and plastic. Recycled mittens.
But it did get me thinking.
I generally wear gloves. Gloves do have the advantage of individual fingers, so they allow better dexterity. But they really aren’t the best for keeping your fingers warm. Mittens are better.
And that’s another thing about mittens that sort of fit with Bernie. They use the warmth of all the fingers to keep the fingers warmer. In a way, they’re sort of socialist hand warmers. Very Bernie.
But the added warmth of cozy hand knit mittens make me wonder why I bother with gloves. Mittens might be the better choice. At least the warmer choice.
