Sunday, January 9, 2011

Two Equals One Pair...

Isn't it true that it's the small things in life that can drive us completely insane? Most of us have the strength and fortitude to deal with major crises ... but the small things can leave us whimpering in the corner.  "I know I left my keys right here; I could have sworn I had extra light bulbs; didn't I just pour a cup of coffee?" We get distracted sometimes, and these things happen. They're not great cause for anxiety, but they can niggle at us sometimes.  But there is one thing that can drive me over the edge into complete and total insanity: I put two socks into the dryer, and only one came out.  I have just spent the better part of an hour, looking for one sock.  It is nowhere to be found.  I am convinced that my dryer, and probably yours too, is really the entrance to a black hole into the universe -- to the Planet of the Socks.

There on the Planet of the Socks they hang out, enjoying a cocktail -- each of them having escaped from Planet Earth -- while their poor, cast-off mates think they're hiding in the lint trap. Eventually the left-behind sock suffers the humiliating fate of becoming a sock puppet, or worse -- a dust rag.

Today I had planned to shop for a new sofa, but all I will be thinking about is my lost sock.  I have looked everywhere.  Where is it?  I will become obsessed with it, and I will probably lose a couple of nights' sleep until I can put it out of my mind. Most of the time I can deal with the major things in my life. Every problem eventually has a solution.  The big things?  No problem ... It's the small things that can drive a person insane.

13 comments:

PhilipH said...

Yes Jo, little things mean a lot, as the song goes. Heh.
Sock it to me one more time.
Phil.

DJan said...

Yes, I too am convinced there is another sock universe. My smart husband taught me how to get around this: buy three or four pairs that match! Then when you lose one, which you will inevitably do, it has a mate. :-)

Paula Slade said...

It was either the "Borrowers" or the Sock Gnomes that separated the pair.

If it was a Sock Gnome, you will never see the sock again as it has already been chopped up and offered to Wall Street.

;-D

Kathryn said...

I've been dealing with this issue for years now by purchasing a dozen or more pair that are identical. Don't have to match them. One gets a hole? Oh well. It has worked fairly well.

I understand the frustration, but to me it isn't worth it. Hope it returns to you soon, Jo, but i've a feeling that it is in an alternate universe somewhere.

mrsnesbitt said...

Hey Jo!!!! I have this all the time - with a man who goes through 2 pair of socks each day - and they are all in similar colours - grey, navy or black! I have a "lost sock" bag and when such happen they are put in it.....then I hold a "sock reunited" occasion when I empty out the bag and pair up all the socks looking for a partner! It is so soul embracing to witness such reunions!
Sad? yet true and rewarding! lol!

myletterstoemily said...

yep, you are so right! those darn missing
socks! please don't lose sleep over it,
though. :)

L. D. said...

If I can get a least one sock reunited with it's partner life is good. It's like saving the world from me buying more socks to go to the landfill.

Owen said...

It may have simply have spontaneously combusted... happens to people sometimes too...
:-)

June said...

My solution is to put the sock away in the closet, and wait. Eventually the missing one turns up, having been stuffed in a pantleg or a shirt sleeve. By then, most often, I've lost the original in the jumble, though.

Alicia said...

Poor Jo. I say it's time to go sock shopping!

heartinsanfrancisco said...

I'm afraid your dryer is a socksucker.

The Bug said...

Oh I LOVE the Borrowers! I should look them up again & reread...

We've found socks inside pantlegs or sleeves - maybe your lost one is there?

Mia said...

I've never lost a sock in the wash.