June 28th, 2005

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Mixed Bag
7 Comments »

19 Socks and Counting

A year and a half ago, charmed by the originality of the idea, I ordered 10 pairs of numbered socks from 10Socks. They’re a company in Denmark that only sells numbered socks. Here’s how they looked when they arrived:

Over the past 18 months I have not, as some people suggested, loyally worn matching numbers. In fact (though it’s not like I checked every day), I’ve never had the serendipity to wear the same number on both feet. I’m pretty happy with how they’ve held up. As far as I know, only one has a hole and they’ve remained very dark. They are, however, a bit pilled:

Sadly, though, one #8 has been lost to the Sock Gods (who saved my sole…sorry). I suppose that’s not a bad rate of loss, one sock per 455 days or .8 of a sock lost per year. I suppose I should order 10 grey pairs, and track their progress to generate a more complete data set.

Comments: 7 Responses so far

Luna Zoloq
June 28th, 2005
9:36 pm

I realize this is off-topic, but have you heard about this stuff?
http://www.sprayonmud.com/

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Bondi Tram
June 29th, 2005
6:38 pm

Merely proves that numbers don’t matter - I keep telling my accountant that but he just laughs at me. Other things that need to be numbered so they match. Cutlery, shoes, remotes and the thing the remote controls…

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Bondi Tram
June 29th, 2005
6:40 pm

merely proves that numbers don’t work - I keep telling my accountant this but he no believe me!

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Rog
June 30th, 2005
5:22 am

I’m curious though, if you don’t wash & wear the socks as matching sets, what is the point of having them numbered?

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Paolo
June 30th, 2005
7:49 am

This is just begging for a mishap.

MR. JOHN JOHNSON, CEO of a company, removes his shoes to adjust his socks before a meeting and a BOARD MEMBER sees the numbers on his socks.

BOARD MEMBER #1
Hey, JOHN, why do you have numbers on your socks?

MR. JOHNSON
Oh, that. It’s to keep the pairs from being mixed up. You keep the numbers together to keep your proper socks paired.

BOARD MEMBER #1
Ah. I see. That’s pretty… clever.

BOARD MEMBER #1 leans over and whispers to BOARD MEMBER #2.
Maybe we ought to rethink JOHNSON being our CEO.

BOARD MEMBER #2
Why?

BOARD MEMBER #1
He’s wearing a number 8 sock and a number 2 sock.

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Darren
June 30th, 2005
9:04 am

Rog: No point really, just a little bit of absurdism that pleases me.

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Gill's Dad
July 1st, 2005
11:22 am

I view the idea of numbered socks as retrograde. For decades I bought socks of various colours with the idea that diversity in clothing was a good thing. This may be true with shirts and pants, but who really notices socks, unless they are abnormal?

After years of trying to match socks of different colours and texture, with some mates lost in the laundry, I realised that the simple solution was to buy large numbers of one variety. (Actually I buy black and beige which will go with anything I wear.) Life is so much simpler.

Then I discovered blue denim shirts for $10 at Army and Navy. I like wearing them so much - no need to iron (I think), comfortable, and practical - I bought several. It saves having to decide what to wear. Now I’m retired time is at a premium !!

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