# An otherwise normal man with holes in his socks - how weird? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 5, 2012, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777 "2012-10-05T05:19:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777/61 "2012-10-06T00:30:44Z")
I voted: Dude, buy some freakin socks. OK, since that wasn’t an option, I’m just saying it. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777/62 "2012-10-06T00:49:36Z")
Another man with holy socks. I wear athletic tube socks and inevitably the nail on my big toe works it’s way through. So I sort them into “left” and “right” - i.e. socks with a hole on the right side and socks with a hole on the left side. But I’m not a _total_ loser. I throw out the socks that have holes on **both** sides. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777/63 "2012-10-06T01:04:34Z")
I voted that its a little weird. Socks and underwear are things I never wear torn or holey. They are so cheap at Walmart. I’m not going to be stingy about a new package of socks. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777/64 "2012-10-06T01:31:19Z")
I’m a man and I voted, Kind of weird I work on my feet all day. I spend a couple of hundred dollars a year on socks. Between socks and boots, I probably spend a thousand bucks a year. Paraphrase of really good advice I received a long time ago: If you spend any amount of time standing while at your job, you need to take care of your feet. You use them all day. They are your tools. If you’re going to splurge and buy the highest quality of anything, make it boots and socks. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777/65 "2012-10-06T01:47:23Z")
Darn thy holy socks. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777/66 "2012-10-06T02:07:16Z")
A sock with a hole in it is not long for the drawer: The hole is going to get bigger, and sooner or later it’s going to be too big to be comfortable. But not necessarily right away. Just because something is going to be worn out soon, doesn’t mean it’s worn out now. So, not at all weird. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777/67 "2012-10-06T02:56:47Z")
> [@jem\_1](#): > > I have super sensitive skin and hate the sensation of some part of my foot sticking to the inside of my shoe because of a sock hole. ☹ > > My husband’s holey athletic socks end up in the rag bag. Great for dusting… I wear one over my hand like a glove. > > When I was a kid, my mom would darn my socks with the scratchiest thread imaginable. I hated wearing darned socks. (Though I thought the wood darning tool was pretty neat. Can you still buy those things?) By “wood darning tool”, do you mean the object placed inside the sock to shape it or the tool used for the stitching? If the former, they’re available widely, in places such as eBay, Etsy, yarn shops, WalMart, etc. (I believe they’re usually called “darning eggs”, and I’ve heard of braver people than I using light bulbs for this). I’m female, and voted “There’s something really off about that”, since none of the assorted males (father, grandfather, stepfather, FIL, husband) whose habits on that subject I’ve been aware of would have worn socks with noticeable holes. DH is especially fussy about his socks (diabetic, and probably Asperger/AS on top of that). He’ll turn them inside-out to avoid the seam rubbing his toes and buys multi-packs so I can just toss each type in a basket (I normally do the laundry) and he won’t have to bother unfolding them. Fine by me, since I hate pairing and folding socks :D. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777/68 "2012-10-06T04:17:36Z")
Maybe I’m sexist, but I think most men don’t worry about things like holes in socks. So I think it’s not weird at all. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777/69 "2012-10-06T11:20:13Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > I work on my feet all day. I spend a couple of hundred dollars a year on socks. I was gonna say “that’s much weirder than just not caring about a hole or two in your socks”. Then I realized that I also spend at least a hundred dollars a year on socks, but that’s because I buy padded, water-wicking running socks which can get expensive and don’t last long. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777/70 "2012-10-06T23:34:15Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > Either way, I don’t want to date you. _whew_ I’m glad we got _that_ cleared up! And all this time, we men were wandering around with holey socks attempting to attract a mate, unable to understand why the obvious allure of such a style was failing to impress the female of the species generally and **Rachellelogram** specifically. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777/71 "2012-10-07T00:46:13Z")
I’m a woman, and I often end up wearing a sock with a hole in the toe. I don’t necessarily mean to, but I’m kind of lazy. I won’t wear a sock with a hole big enough for my toe to fit through, and I won’t wear one with a hole on the bottom, because that’s uncomfortable. I let the little holes go until they get to be big holes or (if they’re socks I really like) I get around to fixing them. What I want to know is how all of you who buy the same type of sock all the time manage to do so. By the time I go to replace socks, I can never find the exact same type I bought before, so the socks don’t quite match, and that bugs me. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777/72 "2012-10-07T08:24:17Z")
You’ve been spying on my husband, have you? 😉 I would think either he’s a bit of a penny-pincher – and that is not necessarily a bad thing – or he really, really hates shopping for anything and is ignoring the sock issue until it can no longer be ignored. Both of these characteristics happen to apply to my ever-lovin’, so I wouldn’t consider either one freakish or anything. A little odd, but not pathological. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777/73 "2012-10-07T14:31:29Z")
Brought up very poor, I’m not going to throw away socks because they’ve got a hole in them. Though the past tradition was to darn them. (I’m too lazy myself ) Quick point, never got holes in the toes, its always in the heel. The rest of the sock could maybe go on a good year. Personally I think that its a plot by International Sock Manufacturers to implement a policy of planned obselesionce or style Fascism. But I know where they live… ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777/74 "2012-10-08T01:10:39Z")
Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a darn. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777/75 "2012-10-08T02:33:09Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > and maybe change sides so that the big toe hole is now on the pinky toe where it won’t stick out Exactly. Once it develops two holes, so I can’t wear it on either foot without my big toe sticking out, _then_ it gets thrown out. The holes don’t bother me; it’s just the feeling of having my toe sticking out that I don’t like. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777/76 "2012-10-08T02:36:24Z")
> [@InternetLegend](#): > > What I want to know is how all of you who buy the same type of sock all the time manage to do so. By the time I go to replace socks, I can never find the exact same type I bought before, so the socks don’t quite match, and that bugs me. Hanes crew socks, white with grey heel and toe sections. I seem to have somehow acquired two different weights of socks, but they look alike so I don’t worry about it - I just grab two socks out of the drawer and put them on. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777/77 "2012-10-08T02:51:53Z")
If I saw an otherwise normal man with holes in his socks, I would ask him what breed of puppy he has 🙂 I haven’t had an intact pair of socks since I got my Jackabee. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777/78 "2012-10-08T02:55:05Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > If I notice the hole, I usually put the sock aside with the full intention of throwing it out later. Later it ends up back in the laundry. > > This will happen ten or twelve times before the sock actually gets thrown out. Very much my experience. I get my holes in the heel. I imagine that’s something to do with how I walk. I also imagine that’s so obvious I probably shouldn’t have had to say it. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777/79 "2012-10-10T15:50:57Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > One claimed that if she didn’t know me, she’d think it was a sign of a mental health disorder. I don’t know this individual, but if that’s all it takes for her to conclude that someone has a mental disorder, perhaps she should go for a (possibly long-overdue) routine examination. 🙂 IOW, Self-appointed physician, heal thyself! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777/80 "2012-10-10T18:40:04Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > _whew_ I’m glad we got _that_ cleared up! > > And all this time, we men were wandering around with holey socks attempting to attract a mate, unable to understand why the obvious allure of such a style was failing to impress the female of the species generally and **Rachellelogram** specifically. Most people don’t like people who are gross even if they don’t plan on dating them. In other words, mentioning dating was just an example. And, honestly, I’m surprised she’s the only one with that type of answer. Lots of people I know think guys’ feet in general are gross. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-otherwise-normal-man-with-holes-in-his-socks-how-weird/636777.md?page=5)