Last weekend I had date night with my Husband- dinner (awesome sandwich shop) movie (The Disaster Artist- I know-James Franco is on the shit list, but don’t throw every other person who worked on this movie under the bus- good movie) and shopping.  Shopping you say?  Yes.  We had time between dinner and movie so we ran to discount store cause my husband needed new gym socks.

Now, my blog friend Andrea recently wrote a blog posing the question, “Are products for men geared to be more simple” (well- to be fair she’s a brilliant writer and her hypothesis was worded much better, but you get the idea)  i commented to her- “No.  men just don’t like going through the hoopla of many choices etc.”  I know I’m generalizing, but I’m going to give you my real life example

My Husband actually had a specific idea of the gym socks he wanted.  Sort of.  He currently had gym socks that went about halfway up his calf.  He did not like these.  He wanted something else.

Fine.

We approached the sock display.

me: What kind of socks do you want?

him: Ones not like the ones I have.

me: ( I held up a pair of quarter length socks) These?

him: How high do these go up?

me: They cover the ankle bone but that’s about it

him: Is that good?

me: Depends what you want.  This is length I get, because I like when my gym socks come over my sneakers.  It’s more comfortable for me

him: I don’t know

me: (I pick up a more ped like variety) These will be completely inside your shoe.  you will not see them

Him: (makes face)

me: (I hold up a pair that is between a ped and a quarter length) these will come up just slightly above the sneaker edge

him: (make face)  what do you think?

me: I don’t know what you want.  What’s the goal?

him: I don’t like the socks I have now.  They are too high.

me: Fine.  These are all shorter.  Which ones do you want?

him:  I don’t know.

me: (bang head against sock display)

You get the idea.  When faced with a plethora of sock choices my husband was at a standstill. It was his personal “Sophie’s Choice”.  To add more, once he’d decided on quarter length, we then had to choose brand, color and amount.  By the time we were on the checkout line I had a headache that only popcorn and a diet coke were going to cure.

When my Husband knew I was going to the drug store, he asked me to buy him a new toothbrush.  I asked him “What kind?”.  His response. ” Just choose one.”

So:

  1. Do some people have trouble making a decision when faced with myriad choices?
  2. Are there too many options out there?
  3. How often do people really know what they want?
  4. Will my Husband actually like the socks he bought, (quarter length, black and grey, 10 pack, reebok) or will be back at discount store this weekend?

82 thoughts on “The Socks”

  2. I have a guy here who has more socks than you can shake a stick at. I don’t get involved in the sock dilemma… 🙂 What I DO do however is go on a ‘you have not worn these socks in over a year, don’t tell me you need them, I do most of the laundry and I can tell’ rage and then get rid of socks.

    He gets more. I give up.

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  3. Again, I think we are married to the same guy. Over the years it has grown worse, he has twice as many clothes than me- probably because Mose of my clothes are donated or bought from thrift stores. I have one credit card for clothes and still, I rarely use it. I hate spending good money on clothes, I’d rather go to the thrift store by the clothes come home and wash them and then I don’t feel so bad. He would never!! Lol-bottom Line, men are weird.

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  4. There are definitely too many choices, but I think people get hung up over the idea that, “if I don’t completely love this pair of socks/toothbrush/breakfast cereal/etc, my life will be less because of it”. But…. really? Your life isn’t going to take a tragic downward spiral because you picked the blue toothbrush instead of the green one. The paradox of choice is a real thing, but you can combat it by realizing that most things in our lives are relatively unimportant. As long as you are actually brushing your teeth, the toothbrush you use hardly matters. Little things like that just aren’t worth the time and energy debating over.

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    1. I stress about thing that are expensive, I’m going to have for awhile, or if I’m trying to organize something…but you’re right….to stress over gym socks is crazy!

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  5. Good post. I wrote about decisions today also. I am always amazed when I shop with my husband how he points out that men’s clothes seem better made than women’s. He finally got rid of some of his wardrobe this past week and yes, he has more clothing than me. Decisions are hard to make like the one I made today to stay home and finish some much needed work and enjoy some down time. It is the right decision. I think the more you make the tougher decisions, the easier it becomes to make the little decisions which in the end don’t really matter.

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  6. When I started knitting again my OH asked me to knit socks. Socks! Nothing easy, then. So I bought a book, circular needles and yarn. “I want thick socks” he said. I tried to explain that it was hard enough to knit with thin wool on small needles, but he was adamant. I told him to get the wool and the pattern. He ended up buying some ready made ones and I returned the needles.

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  7. Actually, as I read some of the comments and then reread your blog, I realize I am the one with trouble making the small decisions. Living with my husband who is ex-military means he doesn’t sweat the small stuff and kind of relaxed me. I am still working on it. When I have to decide which hair dresser to visit…whew…I still prefer the Lebanese hairdresser.

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  8. Classic….
    And yes,we, Americans are spoiled rotten. And we have wayyyyy to many choices.

    It took me 1 hour to try on 10 different bras.. to get to the counter .. and renig and say $40 is just too much for one bra. Follow my bog at Greyishmom.wordpress.com

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  9. You’re brave. I might have simply entered the store with him and then found a reason to go to the opposite side of the store for something that I needed, leaving him to his own devices.

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  10. This is hilarious! And true.

    And yes, there ARE too many choices out there. One need look no further than the cookie aisle at the grocery store. There are a gazillion varieties of Oreos when really, the original and the peanut butter are the only ones necessary (lol).

    Loved this.

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  11. “I don’t know what you want. What’s the goal?”

    That’s the question of the ages when it comes to clothes shopping with men. You’re a brave woman to approach the complicated sock conversation with your husband. i applaud you. 😉

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  12. My husband has worn the mid-calf socks all his life. For Christmas he asked for the “socks you don’t see” so I bought him the ped style ones. He did not like those so then I got him the ankle version. He wore one pair (of the 10 pair pack) and I’ve yet to see him put them on again. Sheesshh.

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  17. I swear there are times when my husband purposely picks something not made. We have to rush out and get the item, finds it and then if left to his own devices it sits in an unopened package for a year. This is why he doesn’t go food shopping as he can spend the entire time in the cereal aisle as I do the rest of the shopping. Some people don’t need choices, they just need you to make the choice not them.

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  19. I never shop for clothing with my husband. It’s not that he is particularly gifted in choosing things. If he finds he doesn’t like something he bought, he’ll give it to the Salvation Army. I’m a miser, so I’m happy to be left out of this circle.

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  20. You’ll be back at the store for more socks. My husband is weird about socks, too. He doesn’t even like the ones he buys for himself😮

    And yes, some people suffer from analysis paralysis. Others know exactly what they want. I’m somewhere in the middle: some things I know exactly, others I only know what I don’t want.

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  22. You wrote, “I don’t know what you want. What’s the goal?”
    I love this!
    I always ask the kids or my husband, “What is it you need from me right now? Problem solving help? Or for me to be a listener?”
    It doesn’t surprise me we’re similar in that.
    Here’s my question: Was it actually that there were too many choices, or was it that he only knew what he didn’t want? In my experience they’re not always the same thing.
    I hope these black Reebok socks work and you don’t have to do that again. 😉

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  23. Yes to numbers 1 and 2. Since I’ve been labeled as “decisive” by others, I’d say I know what I want and I am pretty clear about it on a majority of occasions. But, the fact that I am “labeled” tells me others find this to be an unusual trait (or it’s a kinder replacement label for something else they’d like to call me). And, no he won’t like the socks because they are not like the ones he has now. Oh, sorry, that’s my life. 🙂

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  25. Definitely, we have too many choices now. Although it could be worse: my husband has no problems buying socks, and no pair matches any other pair, ever. Which makes sorting them after they come through the was SO much fun! Seriously, what’s wrong with just buying plain black dress socks, and plain white athletic socks?????

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    1. When I buy socks, I buy 10 pairs of exact same black socks and exact same gym socks. Usually works!! And yes….the sock sorting…trying to match those stupid patterns on men’s socks!! I tried to get him to pin the sticks together before he put them in the laundry…yeah….right!!

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  26. Hahahahahahaha. I drop my husband off at the shopping Mall and tell him to talk to the sales people then meet me in the cafe. Yes, yes, rarely and he will probably wear them without thought until he need new ones. Then you drop him off!!

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  27. hmm .. My experience has been that they are clear about what they want or atleast what they dont want. And there are not as many choices (compared to what we have) . So it is about eliminating the “no’s” and taking what is left behind. I find it very simple, focused and definitely less time consuming.

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  31. Wow. Reminds me of a guy I met in the running store the other day. He didn’t like his long swimming shorts, but he didn’t know what he wanted. He finally decided on a tiny Speedo, bypassing everything in between. I guess this would be the sock version of peds.

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