Sometimes you find a good suggestion in unexpected places. I was playing golf the other day when one of the guys commented on the socks that I was wearing. I told him the brand name and that their gimmick was that if you bought one they gave one to the homeless. Naturally, I meant one pair, but he pretended that I meant one sock. I then remarked that if you bought enough it would even out. Later I got to thinking that socks are always sold in pairs. If you really look at that, it seems to me that it would make more sense if socks were sold in groups of three. The obvious reason for that is that as soon as new socks go into the washer and dryer one of them disappears.
One sock disappearing is a scientific fact that books no argument. You will note that I do not blame the disappearance on the wife since political correctness does not permit that anymore. Besides in our home The Blonde in the House takes significant umbrage if I innocently ask, “What did you do with my sock”? Therefore, in my considered opinion the first sock manufacturer who starts selling his socks in threes rather than pairs will make a great fortune. Think of all the stress that will be removed when socks are thrown into the washer. So what if one disappears? You will have an extra that can be mated to the one that makes it through the cycle. You will note that this my idea so if a sock manufacturer picks up on this, I will expect my percentage of increased sales.
This type of quantity issue is more prevalent than one might think. Take doughnuts for example! The supermarket that we frequent the most has its own doughnuts that they pack in boxes of six. The problem with that is that if I get my four (not all at the same time), that only leaves two for The Blonde. It so happens that in our house, it is not a real problem as The Blonde watches her weight so that doughnuts are not really on her list (officially). However, even though we all know that most women (unadmitted) are on a diet, it is still fair that a compatible couple should have equal chance at the doughnuts. Thus instead of packages of six, they should be packaged with eight inside the box. Some few might argue for twelve, but that is too many and you could end up with the last two which are eaten being a little stale.They definitely should not be sold as a Baker’s Dozen. That happened recently at one of the markets and there were all kinds of arguments throughout The Villages as to who got the 13th doughnut. In this case, unlike with socks, even numbers are best.
Somewhat along the line that I have been discussing are gasoline prices. I would imagine that if gas stations were to even out prices to actually reflect what you are paying that there would be much wailing and gnashing of teeth relative to a steep price increase. Ever since I can remember (and that goes back some) the stations always have a price that says something like $2.99 99/100 per gallon. Thus, folks look at the sign and note, “Huh, gas is $2.99 today”. One of these days a large number of folks will figure out that they are actually paying $3 per gallon and then there will be heck to pay. Just think about that as well as the fact that some people say that you don’t need the penny anymore. If you could have saved all the pennies you thought you were saving because gas was only $2.99 per gallon, you would have a chubby piggy bank. You could probably take the spouse out to the movies and even have enough to buy a big tub of popcorn – although I don’t know if the movies would like all those pennies.
I realize that the above is a good deal to think about, but hey most of us are retired. Heck, some thought provoking issues are good for us!
Barry Evans writes about Life in The Villages for Villages-News.com
