Friday, November 27, 2015

BAGGY SOCKS...

It’s a school, I think.
          It’s a school; the teacher (middle-aged) is organizing some kind of circle game with her charges; they’re all holding hands, and there’s one poor kid scrunched down in the center of the circle—clearly “it,” clearly the unwanted center of attention!
          She doesn’t look happy.

But buried in Alan’s description of this week’s Sepia Saturday prompt, is this:
“Just dig a little deeper and look for other themes within this image…”

So, there’s this kid with the baggy socks…
I think I spent my entire childhood in baggy socks…
You know, the ones that your mother made you wear—the silly white ones that rode down the back of your ankle until they were inside your shoes!
          Remember?
Of course you do—all little girls wore them; we wore them with sneakers and sturdy school shoes and those dreaded Mary Janes…we wore them even with slippers (sometimes)!
Remember those?

And remember when you were outside, running around in a game of tag, or softball, or dodge ball, or hopscotch or jumping rope, those foolish little socks slid down into your shoes so far that it felt like running on a huge lump of clay in there?
You had to stop whatever you were doing, sit right down on the ground and take your shoes off; you had to fudge around with those little socks until you could unbunch them, pull them back up over your heel and up your ankle again, put your shoes back on and (if you were lucky enough to have mastered the skill) tie ‘em up again!



I searched through my various family photo albums and boxes and found eleven pictures of me in baggy socks: at family gatherings, birthday parties, at the summer house and even on the steps of St. Paul’s Church in Brunswick, Maine when I was about ten (Mary Janes included).

But this shot?
This is the absolute Best of the Baggy Socks Shots.


It should knock your socks right off!

19 comments:

  1. I always thought it was because my legs were thin that I had that problem. I don't remember my sister having it. I'll have to check with her.

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    1. I'm willing to bet we all had problems with sagging/bunching socks -- even the boys, to a certain extent! But let me know what your sister says...

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  2. Oh my,, oh my. What a treasure. But I was interested in your speculation about a school. At one stage I was even thinking of an institution of some kind.

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    1. Never thought of that, but it's possible -- they do seem to be different ages, which might suggest more along your line of thought than mine!

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  3. Love it. What a klittle sweetie you were with your baggy socks and your pigtails. I really can't remember having baggy socks. For school we had to wear elastic garters to hold our socks up and at home we wore sandals most of the time. Must ask my brother.

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    1. I remember my father wearing garters, Liz; but we kids never had them. But this was before all these man-made materials came out -- everybody's socks were wool or cotten, so sagged.

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  4. Ha ha, a 'nudie rudie' except for your socks. Plus you are holding hands, more or less. I do remember those pesky socks, and still have some that disappear into my shoes, which can be very annoying.

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    1. My brother looks slightly amused (or embarrassed, am not sure which). Socks and Red Ball Jets -- my summer outfit!

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  5. Elastic thread ranks with Velcro as one of great innovations of modern civilization.

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  6. I don't think my socks were ever as baggy as yours.

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  7. Yep, I had those socks. In fact, sometimes I think I still do. I find myself reaching for those loosey-goosey socks over the ones that leave an impression on my legs.

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    1. Me, too, Wendy! Sometimes these newer ones cut off my circulation (or at least it feels that way). Can't win, can we?

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  8. Oh yes, I remember the baggy socks! That photo is just lovely and yes, you are holding hands.

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    1. My brother has been laughing ever since I posted this...

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  9. Great socks stories...I sure shared the problem and had skinny legs...at least as a kid. I think it's more due to no elastic in them...though at some stage I had nylon socks, and they were even worse at sliding down.

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    1. Yup, elastic in your sock cuffs was a GREAT improvement over those all-cotton numbers, wasn't it? Now, though, socks seem to be so tight my feet get numb!

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