Socks should come in threes

I wonder if those that sell things that come in pairs would consider packaging their products, instead, in sets of three. That could solve a lot of problems.

Socks, for instance, should defi nitely come in threes. A person could buy two identical pairs and, with the spares, they would initially have three pairs. This would only last, of course, until the first time they are put through the wash.

But having extras isn’t the point. The point is to start with extras to enhance the odds of having a mated pair remaining when the garments come out of the dryer. Where socks go to hideand what prompts them to sometimes but not always come back is a great mystery. What force controls this? It has got to be more than static cling.

I mean, really! There are relatively few places for socks to be lost en route between the dirty clothes hamper in the bedroom to the laundry room down the hall and back. Still, it happens much more often than it should. I have searched my dryer, and I cannot fi nd any sock-sized secret hiding places. This whole phenomenon makes matching socks a frustrating task. Hard decisions have to be made - dilemmas really. When a sock comes upsingle, what should be done with it? How long should odd socks be allowed to accumulate in the clothes basket with others of the same fate with hopes that the mate will eventually return? It is quite evident, in my experience anyway, that giving in and disposing of a mismatch is a sure way of cueing sock number one to reappear. It must be a rule of the lost sock society.

There are other things, say earrings for instance, that should also come in threes. A few days ago, I organized my earring tree and found fi fteen singles that no longer have a matching counterpart - 15! You might guess from my large lifetime collection that it is even harder for me to give up on earrings than on socks. Looking at the row of little matchless earrings, I wondered out loud tomy husband what I should do with them. Was it time to toss them out? I waited for his answer from what I knew would be a less attached perspective.

“Know anyone with just one ear pierced?” he asked, logically. “Somebody out there needs those.” “Very funny,” I answered, “and what, may I guess, is your solution for the extra socks ?”

“Dust cloths,” he smiled.

Annette Rowe is a freelance writer from rural Gentry and a speechlanguage pathologist at Siloam Springs High School.

She may be reached by email at [email protected].