Friday, August 17, 2007

(ongoing series) things in this world that are plentiful and yet i wish there were still more

931. Novelty socks.

(Even though I don't wear them myself, sticking instead to my ever-expanding collection of argyles.)

Speaking of novelty socks, once upon a time I was talking to this woman who was all excited because she had received a letter inviting her to participate in a novelty sock scheme. There was a list of 3 names, and you were supposed to send a pair of novelty socks to the person whose name was at the top, then send a new list with your name at the bottom to 8 more people, etc.. Only I don't have those numbers quite right, because if everyone participated one would end up getting 71,347 pairs of novelty socks. I told her that she would end up getting no socks. She said my prediction was indicative of a larger character flaw of mine, namely a lack of faith. When I talked to her again a couple months later, she reported receiving no socks. She repeated that my prediction was indicative of a larger character flaw of mine, namely a lack of faith. I decided afterwards that she was probably right about this. I mean, what is more worth an implausible leap of faith than the prospect of many thousands of novelty socks?

6 comments:

dorotha said...

coincidentally, i was thinking about a sock just like this while i was getting dressed today, though we were only supposed to pass the information along to 5 people. i bought socks for the person two ahead of me, but when my friend who invited me to participate wouldn't deliver them, i decided there was no way i was actually going to send them through the mail. i kept them for myself and never got anyone else involved in the "sock scheme."

i did not wear my purple, white, and green frog socks today, but i thought about it. i am wearing black socks with green frogs instead.

i wouldn't put your lack of faith in people at the top of your list of flaws, or anyone's. if losing ipods was could be could be described as a character flaw, that is the one that would be the clear leader.

lmw said...

your lack of faith isn't completely unfounded--at least in this case. if someone sent me socks and asked me to send more out to people...well, it wouldn't get done. i would appreciate the socks, and maybe i would return the favor to that person in some other way like coffee. but i most likely wouldn't join the sock-exchanging bandwagon. my guess is there are more bad people out there like me.

Unknown said...

Colorful and unusual socks are great. While women have many different clothing type options (dresses, pants, couture tops, etc.) men are often relegated to ties and socks for creative expression. Accordingly, it is important to have a large variety of interesting and colorful socks available for all occasions. Less important is a good variety of ties as they are constricting, and get in the way of doing everyday tasks like eating or typing. Of course, we could just relax our gender roles and let men wear dresses. Seems like that would solve more than just fashion problems.

Anonymous said...

sockssockssockssockssockssockssocks (um, how many do you want me to send?)sockssockssockssockssocks.....

Anonymous said...

Never went for the novelty socks, too conservative in my clothing taste.

On Jamie's point, I have a friend who was stationed in the Middle East and she noted that women who dress in the burkas have the same problem. She said if you look, they all have on fabulously expensive shoes. The one way they could show their identity. I've tried to field test that here in Boston, but realized I don't know a Payless from a fancy shoe.

Brock#20

PS: I've moved stuff by Two Men as well, and they do ok.

Anonymous said...

Socks tend to draw attention to the ankles and feet. This is not always a good thing for everybody.