When I was 13 or so I told my father that I wanted (needed, really) a pair of gloves. I needed these gloves because when we went traveling every summer I would help my father with our baggage, which had an impressive mathematical inevitability: five people, two bags each, ten bags total. Add to that a European sojourn on our way to India, rolling baggage carts that had only three wheels, at least one of which always pointed in a different direction from the other two. I liked to try to be helpful. But lifting those bags would leave my hands a little raw, so I thought a pair of gloves would solve the problem.
I imagined something like leather driving gloves, something jaunty and fun, for which it's true I did expect I would find a few other uses.
My father thought it over, and told me that the only gloves he could offer me at the moment were a pair of oversize cotton gardening gloves.
So I wore these - without any embarrassment - for a few summers while we were at airports. I stopped using them after an immigration officer in Tokyo asked me to remove my gloves and to show him my hands.
You decide.
xo
bb
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9 comments:
Haha, if you had any photos of those gloves in action, that would be too amazing! Your dad was pretty cheeky :)
And thanks for the tennis quote info!
I love wearing gloves. But I lost my lovely long black cashmere ones :(
Jude -- Strangely I didn't even think how bizarre I must have looked trudging through airports wearing gardening gloves!
Indie.Tea -- me too! Hope you'll find some replacements for the lost gloves...
xo
bb
haha great story!
but really...how smart to save yoru hands..
the driving gloves would be best i think!
Ah, the innocence of youth. Smart dad!!
Thank you SO, incredibly much for your comment on my rant post. It definitely encouraged me to make my current situation better. I'm going to look into all those things! The best part is, I'll be able to use the coffeemaker, toaster oven, blankets, etc in the future too.. so it's a good investment!
Again, thanks so much for your sweet comment and for taking the time to share a piece of advice with me! :D
Jane - the story seems a bit odd only looking back on it - why didn't I feel self-conscious walking through the airport with gardening gloves? I'll add to the list of things to talk about with my therapist (when I get one!)
Nicole - happy to have said something useful, though I was mostly echoing Jude... It is true though that in difficult situations and spaces, small luxuries mean a lot!
xo bb
Very funny! Wow, that's weird you got a strange reaction at the airport in Japan. I see people wearing gloves all the time here, especially women who don't want to get age spots!
Well, I guess the gardening gloves might have looked a little strange... so where are those gloves now? And do you still wear them?
Mary - no, I only used those for few years before I finally realized it did look a little odd. But that's a good point; the Japanese are fanatic about these things aren't they? I actually gave up on the gloves and instead started packing lighter and of course they finally invented bags with wheels! xo bb
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