Having a couple of more pairs of unpaired socks is nothing out of the ordinary for working people like us. Sometimes we just forget where we put them, and that’s the end of that story. But what leads to this phenomenon? Could there be a scientific reason for the socks of the majority of people to get lost this way? Yes. And it’s called the Bermuda triangle. And no, I’m just kidding. But what if? What if Bermuda is just another analogy for the corner of your bed or the insides of your washing machine that you’re too lazy to check. Let’s dive into it.
A day for the forgotten socks!
May 9th is the day we remember all the unpaired and paired socks we’ve lost throughout our lifetime. Socks that were never found, socks that were found when it outgrew us, socks that were found a decade later. According to research conducted in Britain, an average Brit loses around 1264 socks in their entire lifetime. That’s like 1.3 socks every other month. Now for the rest of the world, the stats may vary, but the bigger picture here is we humans seem to lose the other pair of any product, whether it’s a sock or an airpod.
Why does this happen?
We have a few guesses about where and why these mysterious socks sneak out and where they go. Conspiracists believe that this could be an undoing of some sort of reverse Santa, but logic begs to differ on this one. Here could be a few of the places where your lost socks could be hidden:
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Laundry Appliances
Since they are one of the tiniest pieces of clothing that we wear. And it’s not unusual for them to get stuck between the tub and the drum of the washing machine. Hence, now, if you do your laundry at home, there might be a slight chance you’ll find one of your lost long pals. Where? Probably in the corner of the machine, either sucked into the drainpipe or absorbed in the dryer filter.
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The Fewer Fortunate
Some of the laundry socks don’t even make it to the laundry room and are probably somewhere where you keep your dirty clothes. So take a look around, put in some effort if you’ll find something you’ve lost, even if it’s not your sock.
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The Weak Are Invisible Among The Dominants
This theory I can somewhat relate to in the context of life and the lost ones as well. Like, one of my socks was somehow in one of my hoodies, and it had just been there for some time. So I was wearing a hoodie with a sock inside it, like ok? And one day, out of the blue, it just dropped while I was doing jumping jacks in the park. So my conclusion being, the socks you’ve been looking for might be inside you all along, leeching off the fabric of your clothes like a parasite.
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I Believe I Can Fly…
Socks being not that heavy of a material can be quickly fly off by wind from the clothesline to somewhere in your neighbor’s property or across the street. Not a lot of registered cases, but I’ve been in this scenario before. I go to pick up my clothes, and the wind has just changed where my clothes were initially placed.
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DIY
If you’re one of those people who tried DIY life hacks most of the time, socks are one of the most reused items. I knew that from the countless hours I’ve spent looking at these DIY videos without utilizing any of them. So, there’s a case that you’ve used one of your socks to maybe make a watering product for your plants or to hold two things together.
How To Counter Losing Socks & Make Use Of The Remaining Pair
What can we do with what we have now since there is no way of retrieving the pairings we’ve lost? Wear them separately, if you must. It may seem ridiculous but bear with me. It’s fairly not peculiar to see people wearing socks that aren’t matching these days. Nobody will notice they’re different, I believe, since only you know what you’re wearing. Even if people notice it, it will appear to them as a trend statement.
But, on the other hand, not everyone is capable of doing this feat. If you don’t feel at ease wearing them, the best you can do is send them away to homeless people. Alternatively, you may just store them in a drawer and wear them again once you’ve located the missing piece.
Also Read: Looking Back At Some Of Our Favorite Jeans
