She takes the opposite view and buys us many more clothes than we can possibly use. So we provide GoodWill and Salvation Army with boatloads of older but still serviceable clothes.
The sock above is a case in point. Now I agree it is a bit shopworn. Nevertheless it can still be worn. And it provides freedom and aeration to my feet and is much more economical than new socks. She insists that it be thrown away. It is green and sustainable to keep it.
DARN. MY SOCKS
I pointed out to her that if she would darn my socks we could keep using them. She said something unprintable about my socks but it did not include the word Darn. More emphatic, I would say.
OK, she wins. Out goes the sock. A sad loss. I hope it has a good afterlife.
And
When I was single I hit on the concept of always buying identical socks. This way you never had to take the time to mate and pair them - since all my socks were the same they all worked. Sadly she does not follow this simple precept. Finding mates for my multitude of socks is difficult if not impossible.
Sartorial Excellence
I am careless with clothing. I don't really care all that much. And wearing unmatched socks is ok, as long as they don't clash too much. But once at a Planning Commission meeting I noticed that I was wearing unmatched shoes. I was a bit embarrassed and tried to keep one foot mostly under the table when I rose to point out items on the map. I was a consultant to the Planning Commission. But then I thought it was funny and so outed myself. They thought it was humorous and no doubt wondered why they were paying someone to guide the community's long range future when I could not wear matching shoes.
I was of course a bad fit for the Marine Corps which is fanatical about appearance. And so they trained me to be careful about wearing the uniform. And I did better, but my troops frequently fiddled with my medals before an important event to make sure they were correct and they were not embarrassed by me.
