knee socks require balls?

i am known for my crazy socks. this has been true since i was old enough to influence the sock purchasing. particularly knee socks–i get cold. also, they are awesome. (let’s put aside for a moment my monumental resentment that knee socks have been dubbed as hipster. along with knitting, and several other things i enjoy that used to be somewhat unique. not that it matters. but i liked them first, jerkwads.)

right. so i was walking down a boardwalk in pt. pleaseant of the jersey shore, in knee high socks of chartreuse and chocolate horizantal stripes, of heavy, loose-weave cotton. delightful, and yes, a bit unusual. many comments through the day. my boyfriend and i debated as to the positive/negative nature of these comments, as humans tend to be excellent at the sarcastic backhanded insult. but one comment stood out. a relatively young woman said to me, i love your socks. i said thanks. then she said, i wish i had the balls to wear them. i smiled and quickly said, it’s not hard.

i was so surprised. it takes balls? guts? self-esteem of some kind to wear knee socks? i guess in her small portion of the world, they haven’t become cool. and i guess to her it mattered. i feel pretty sad about that. if i knew her address i would mail her a pair of socks, perhaps over the knee toe socks in lemon and navy argyle. i would wear those, wouldn’t you?