Lonely socks

October 11, 2004 6:20 AM

Lonely Socks. Have you ever rifled through your socks drawer to find only three socks. One green, one blue and the other yellow? Where did the other one go? Post your single socks here and help them find their partners.
posted by fvw (20 comments total)

via the ever interesting MonkeyFilter.
posted by fvw at 6:22 AM on October 11, 2004

Only one sock added in the last 11 months, and that one was in March. Possible link rot.

Cute idea, though.
posted by chicobangs at 6:34 AM on October 11, 2004

I've considered an AskMe on this one. WHERE DO THEY GO??? I always check the washer and drier to make sure the little suckers aren't clinging to the wall, and yet I always end up with lonely socks. Wormholes to the sock planet, a la Douglas Adams? Sometimes I picture the theme from the Great Escape starting up behind me as I close the laundry room door after putting in a new load. It's a total mystery to me.
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:39 AM on October 11, 2004

I take great pains to match up every pair as I'm done with my laundry.. Yet, somehow I've ended up with 7 lonely socks in my sock box right now.what the...? how did that happen? I'll match up my white "I heart me" sock with the black "Punk rock roxxs" sock and look like a littlemissmatch without buying that.
posted by dabitch at 6:49 AM on October 11, 2004

There was a time when I found such web sites amusing. Now I know their operators are just lonely and sad. Since I've stopped popping Prozac and Zoloft, I have no time for such triviality.
posted by fleener at 6:50 AM on October 11, 2004

fleener, ironically that post made you seem lonely and sad just now.
posted by glenwood at 7:09 AM on October 11, 2004

Get all the odd ones and dye them black.
posted by ed\26h at 7:12 AM on October 11, 2004

WHERE DO THEY GO???

When I lived in a student house with 3 others, we had loads of problems with the washing machine. When we finally dug deep enough into our pockets to get someone to repair it, we found that the pump was stuffed with my socks. No-one else's, just mine...

So there you have it. The washing machine eats them.
posted by monkey closet at 7:41 AM on October 11, 2004

Brilliant, whimsical idea for a website! I >♥. I 'll submit a photo soon, although I only wear black, white or tan socks, bought cheap by the half-dozen, and I cut the elastic tops off for comfort, making them all look similar in an impoverished Oliver Twisty sort of way. ( A long time ago I wore nothing but Argyles, but that costs a bit extra.)
glenwood, you're sharp and insightful ;-)
posted by Shane at 7:56 AM on October 11, 2004

Don't let the Prozac fool you Shane, I'm a mess.
posted by glenwood at 8:16 AM on October 11, 2004

Where are all the socks? A typical individual loses about one sock per month. Conservatively, let's say that's 10 socks a year and that there are two billion people on the planet who launder and lose socks at that rate. Say socks typically last 10 years before disintegrating. So we have 10 socks a year times 10 years times two billion equals 200 billion socks. Assuming 20 socks a pound, that's 10 billion pounds of socks. Now, just where are those 5 million tons of unmatched socks? Huh? (Question asked of Marilyn vos Savant in Parade Magazine about five years ago.)
posted by netbros at 8:28 AM on October 11, 2004

Don't let the Prozac fool you Shane, I'm a mess.

Try Paxil and Buster Keaton movies. Also, take off your socks occasionally and go barefoot ... perhaps whilst reading Vonnegut's Bokononist reflections on the sensitivity of feet in Cat's Cradle... ;-)
posted by Shane at 8:40 AM on October 11, 2004

So there you have it. The washing machine eats them.

True dish. I have a friend whose ex-husband used to repair washing machines, and you find them sitting in the bottom of the outside basin or stuck in the out-take and sometimes the pump. Turns out socks float, and will occasionally be thrown between any gap between the inner basin and the outer.
posted by weston at 8:45 AM on October 11, 2004

When they make a match, who gets the socks?
posted by SpaceCadet at 9:25 AM on October 11, 2004

Both, they get joint custody.
posted by drezdn at 9:29 AM on October 11, 2004

I am amazed this link made a monkey do what a monkey did in the first reply on the linked monkeyfilter thread.
posted by Peter H at 9:44 AM on October 11, 2004

It was my understanding that missing socks are easily explained by quantum tunneling.
posted by Galvatron at 9:49 AM on October 11, 2004

I think it was a short story by Avrim Davidson, called "Or All the Seas with Oysters" wherein missing socks, clothes hangers, paper clips, and lost bicycles were all just larval stages of a strange creature that became ... something else. I've always sort of liked that idea, so I tend to treat my lonely socks with a certain reverance.
posted by elendil71 at 10:11 AM on October 11, 2004

This is why I stopped buying socks that look different, and now only buy two kinds of sock: thick cushioned sole for regular wear with sneakers and boots, and a dress basic black Goldtoe for more formal occasions.

Argyle is right out.

--doug
posted by Blackanvil at 10:34 AM on October 11, 2004

You need never have lonely socks again if you are a child. Flax Art presents: A pair with a spare. Comes in popsicles, Jellybean, or Lollipop flavor-- I mean sizes.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 4:17 PM on October 11, 2004