More socks

Socks, socks and more socks!
As Camp Director for a sports camp for boys and girls, I spent many very busy summers keeping teens and pre-teens focused on tennis, soccer and riding rather than each other. Their days and evenings were filled with activities, overseen by athletic young college students, who needed their own occasional refocusing.

On average, one hundred and fifty campers and 70 staff were in residence for each of three sessions which adds up to one heck of a lot of socks! 99% of those socks were white athletic socks when they started, bought new for camp. I would guess that only 10% ever made it home again. Weekly laundry was responsible for a good number. Once white socks get loose from their laundry bag, matching them to their owner is next to impossible. Inside the cabins, socks disappeared when they were swept under the bunks, hidden in the trash or stuffed under the mattresses in a last minute attempt to pass Cabin Inspection. But most of the unclaimed socks, were discarded by their owners in the course of their very active day.

Often the day started with tennis. That required clean socks. Next was soccer with uncomfortable cleats and shin guards which were quickly discarded once practice was over. Then a dash to the pool. You don't need socks for swimming so often a single missing sock was not immediately detected. Flip-flops could get you to lunch and through rest hour and then oops another clean pair was necessary for afternoon tennis. You get the picture.

Odd socks and sometimes pairs littered the grounds. Staff collected these delectable objects on a daily basis and along with found sweatshirts, caps, towels, tennis rackets and more and carried them to mealtimes for redistribution. Not so strangely, socks were rarely claimed.

Rainy days were the worst. Wet, muddy, stinky socks festered everywhere. All Camp Cleanup was declared as soon as weather permitted and candy wrappers, care package materials, and some unmentionables along with socks now brown with mud were shovelled into the dumpsters and disappeared for ever.

Over the course of an eleven week summer several garbage bags of keepers were gathered. I'm not sure what happened to most of those but one bagful made it home with me each year. Those nearly-new socks were soaked, boiled, bleached and dried and unceremoniously dumped into a large hamper, unsorted. My three kids were some of those campers who came home sockless. They never worried about matching up pairs so for the next 9 months would happily dive into the hamper, again and again, to retrieve two somewhat similar items for their ever-growing feet. Those camp days are long past but socks still seem to be in short supply. Thank goodness for Sock Sales!