Being single in a married world - One sock's story

As told to me by a lonely sock:  "We were both born to be part of a loving couple.  The two of us were meant for each other - we complimented each other in so many ways.  Our dreams, our goals were the same - we were a perfect fit.  What she did, I did - every step of the way.  "Whither thou goest, I will go" was our song, and now when I hear the lyrics, I'm sad because suddenly, I find myself without a partner - she disappeared without a trace - she didn't even say goodbye.  Now I find myself single in a married kind of world.  I am no good without her."

Does this look familiar?

This is my mismatched sock box - sort of a "singles club" for lonely socks.  Do you have one too?  This one is kept beside my bed where I fold laundry so that I can match when or if the other shows up again.  Eventually, most sock's partners do show up - they either get separated in different laundry loads or get left behind in the washer or dryer - making the single sock a "couple" again.  I have a rule of thumb that if they haven't made their appearance in about a month, they get relegated to my husband's workshop for wiping up oil spills or to my broom closet where they can be used as dust cloths.

Here's some tips on how to keep socks together:

• Buy men's socks in bulk packages - 10 whites for sport socks, 10 blacks and 10 browns, etc for dress or casual socks.  Then if you lose one, just wait until you lose another and you'll still have a matching pair.  The same can be done with women's socks.  Trouser socks and sport socks for women come in bulk packages also.
• Buy an inexpensive mesh lingerie bag for each family member's socks and place it beside their laundry hamper.  A 12" X 18" bag is about $2.  Just toss the whole bag in and you'll never have to match socks again.  In a perfect world, it could work that way, smile.
• Rubber bands also work well.  Place a bag of rubber bands within easy reach of the hamper and ask each family member to rubber band their matching socks together before putting them in the hamper.  Some people use safety pins for the same purpose, but I'm always afraid they'll come undone in the wash and give someone a pinch.

If these tips don't work, do what my granddaughters do.  They buy bright and crazy pattern socks and mismatch them.  It's fun and trendy, but only the very young can get away with it.  If I were to try it, I'm sure I would hear giggles and laughs saying, "look at that old lady wearing mismatched socks - she's probably either blind or senile" ---- and they would be about half right!

The last I heard from the lonely sock, he was doing a rendition of Three Dog Night's lyrics:
"one is the loneliest number, since you went away".........