First, a joke:
There once was an army general whose troops were on a losing streak. The men were terribly discouraged.
Food was scarce, uniforms were tattered, and they’d been marching for so long that there had been no time to do laundry. The soldiers had been wearing the same underwear . . . for weeks months.
The general knew he needed to do something or men would begin deserting. He had to inspire the troops. He must give them something that would re-ignite their desire to win!
So he stood before them and made this promise: “If we win tomorrow’s battle . . . I hereby decree that each and every one of you will receive . . . a change of underwear!!!”
The men cheered! They stomped and clapped and slapped one another upon the back. That night, each man dreamed of new, scent-free, actually-white whitey-tighties.
The general’s plan worked! The battle was won!!!
The next evening, as the men stood expectantly before their leader, he congratulated them upon their success. He praised their effort, their passion and their skill. And then he declared that he would fulfill the promise made less than twenty-four hours before.
“Men, I promised you a change of underwear!”
(Cheers, applause and general excitement.)
“OK. Bill, you change with Harold. Hank, you change with Gary. Frank, you change with . . . .”
Get it?
Really, there’s not a lot of point to telling that joke except that it’s one of the VERY most favorites in my family. And it kind of goes with the strange excitement I felt when I bought socks for my kids today!!!
Socks. Yes, I’m excited that for at least a week, they’ll have clean socks. But I’m mostly excited because I get to pitch the ones that look like this:
Need socks? Here’s an affiliate link while you’re thinking about them: Socks.
--Nony
Loved the joke…I’ll tell that to my soldier husband! 🙂
I do try to make sure we all get new socks and underwear once a year. Some may still be good, but there always seems to be a need once a year. I have found fall, usually back to school time, is a great reminder for me to do this task! Enjoy your new socks!!
Don’t throw them out! They’re great for cleaning or using for other random things like wiping off a chalk board or dry erase board, painting/staining, putting on the head of your mop to dust high. Puppets. Tons of stuff. 😀 At least the non-holey ones. The ones that are holey or really stained I do chuck. lol
Yep, only the hole-ey went away.
I know in my heart that I shouldn’t toss them. I have struggled with socks forever. I used to sew holes closed. I am now to the point where it is better for MY slob brain to toss them as I see holes. It keeps the unmatched basket from overflowing.
Oh for sure if you have several already, toss away! I kept several pairs when the hubby bought new so I’ve been throwing out the holey ones. He is HARD on socks. They don’t just have holes, but they are threadbare! If my rag drawer is full, though, I don’t keep anymore. I just let them go.
My DH has been on sock and underwear restriction for several years because when we first started dating he would just go but new ones instead of doing laundry. The man had 44 pairs of socks and underwear!!!! Now I ration new purchases for him. We recently had one of the biggest belly laughs we’ve ever had though when I totally busted him wearing a new pair of underwear that I didn’t purchase. I keep telling him he needs to read your blog. It’s him to a tee.
Oh how I needed that laugh today. Thank you so much for posting the joke.
Funny funny! I just bought new undies and socks about a month ago. I usually buy a few of each of these necessary things each year (at around the same time). Love the feeling of new socks!
I just got rid of a big bag of unmatched socks. (Many thrift stores will still take them because they sell them to companies as fabric scraps) I corralled the orphans in a bag last spring and have been patiently waiting for their mates to show up with no luck. We have enough socks without these lonely ones, so I finally convinced myself to just let go.
I dont match socks….they all match in your drawer…pull out two and put on your feet! Everyone gets two new packs of socks at Christmas. Before they get to put them in their drawer they bring ALL old ones and put under the tree. When I pack the tree up I use socks to slide the ornaments into before boxing up. I have small ornaments in their baby socks and it heals my mommy broken heart to be able to keep them with a purpose! Also…we do Christmas tree burning at midnight on new years…that makes putting away Christmas a new years party and everyone helps me after dinner on the 31st pack up the tree so we are ready to burn at midnight!
Love these ideas!!!
I only buy black socks now because white socks never stay clean white. I also only buy packages of the same sock. I don’t have to pair them because they all match!
This tax return is refreshing time way over due