Thursday, May 3

The domestic Bermuda triangle

There is a mysterious place in our bedroom; it’s right next to one of those mass-produced IKEA armchairs, that once upon a time was a non-offensive creamy colour, but is now hideously grotty-looking (which is, I suppose, the main reason we make sure it’s always well-covered with clothes). The mysterious place next to this chair attracts socks; dirty socks, dirty, smelly man-socks. Like a domestic Bermuda triangle its pull on the helpless socks appears irresistible.

It’s a reliable source of argument between us. Between the owner of the smelly man-socks and I. Usually I turn a blind eye, but if my eye remains blind for too long he runs out of socks (I refuse to carry the filthy things to the laundry basket), and so we argue. In all fairness he never blames me when his sock stock is depleted, but it irritates me that he would rather be sock-less than fight the pull of the sock triangle.

Whilst my man is of the most chilled-out stock imaginable, I am prone to the occasional temper tantrum more often associated with a five year-old. This can, as I’m sure you all realise, lead to problems. Drama queens need a regular outlet, and this opportunity doesn’t present itself very often when you’re living with Mr Cool-As-A-Cucumber. So I’m starting to wonder whether the sock triangle is his own carefully-planned invention, created purely for my benefit. After all he’s not the sort of person to leave wet towels on the floor, nor does he leave the toilet seat up or wear the same underpants for five days straight. And the sock pile on the floor always looks curiously tidy.

I’m not sure whether this annoys me or not.

18 comments:

Kate said...

I wish my housemates' household habits were as innocent as a sock pile. One leaves tampax wrappers on the corner of the bath, another leaves pans full of rice lying round the kitchen for days, and the other hoards all the kitchen utensils in his room. I wonder what my foible is...I'm pretty sure I have many!

Sharon said...

Oh.....I have had this sock problem. Yes..I can visualize the triangle. Here is what I did ..(I believe thanks go to Rosanne Barr). Place each sock in a line to the clothes hamper. Sorta a trail of socks. When your guy asks what the hey...is happening here. Tell him that you thought if you gave them a hint they might find their way to the hamper by themselves.
PS My husband likes to hang clothes on door knobs. But he does put those socks in the dirty clothes bin.

all over the map said...

I can't stop laughing.
I hate those clothes piles, oh how I hate them!
Does it drive you mad when you are having the tantrum and he's Mr. calm, cool and collected?
Now I am asking myself? Do I appear to act like a five year old when having my own tantrum? LOL

Lacithecat said...

Hahaha ... oh how lovely!

He sounds like quite a find and has you perfectly sussed if your theory is corret. Can you imagine? Instead of hazarding into a stupid fight that could potential turn serious (with significant repercussions), he gets you to emotionally 'detox' over socks! Smile ...

And dating such a cool man is a lot of fun. My ex-Bjorn would sit back and watch me throw things and rant. When I finally finished - he would just simply ask "Are you finished yet?" with a half grin, which always made me melt.

Got to love it!

Bearette said...

Same pairing with me and my husband...drama and cucumber (that sounded wrong ;) his socks are not organized enough to form a triangle however; they are all over the apartment.

Jay said...

Wow, I think you just psychoanalyzed the heck out of yourself in that last paragraph!
Sit down if you feel dizzy or out of breath.

Anonymous said...

LOL! Yep, same dynamic here. And same mysterious Bermuda Triangle.

Anonymous said...

Maybe it's the IKEA armchairs which are to blame. I also own one of those IKEA armchairs, and mine attracts piles of clothes, too. Especially my socks (the ones that don't get mysteriously lost in my washing maching). :)

kikare said...

I find this post very amusing. You should try to have a laugh!

My man can never put his dirty clothes into the laundry basket properly. No matter how empty the basket it, he always, always leaves a part of the clothing hang out. Like a warm dog's tongue. It has become his signature.

daisies said...

oh my ... hmmmmm this is odd because i too am the drama queen to his oh too cool as a cucumber calmness and we have been experiencing our own sock triangle right next to the painted blue shelf that used to be my grandparent's furniture which saw me through far too many homes ...

we should start a group, lol, sounds like there are a lot of us

;-)

Suzie Ridler said...

You need a little tiny hamper right there just for his socks! I think that would take care of the problem. I'm one to talk though, my husband has the same issue, LOL. I guess I need to buy a tiny hamper too.

Great post!

Anonymous said...

How funny. Now you have me thinking because I have a neat-freak husband who washes dishes relentlessly; however, he NEVER wipes down the kitchen countes. It drives me crazy because while I'm not particularly neat-freaky, I don't like crumbs and stuff being on the counter. I wonder if he's doing it intentionally to get me to actually clean something :)

Vanessa said...

ha ha ha! there's this empty corner in our bedroom and just the other day Jaime mentioned we must buy a nice chair or lounger or something to put in it. but we never really sit in our room to read or anything, I said. yeah, but it would be perfect for throwing your clothes over every night, he replied.
still, that would be better than the current floor option, I suppose, right? ;)
Vx

Anonymous said...

Yep...we've got a similar triangle in our room...well, actually more like a square...consisting of The Brit's half of the room entirely.

Unknown said...

Oh, could have written this myself self. I am laughing outloud.
Jim is cucumberish and I am the temper tanturm thrower and he is the creator the dirty man socks that never make it to the hamper.
Thanks for the laugh.

Michelle | Bleeding Espresso said...

Oh, we have this too! P is getting better with the socks after much hassling, and, strangely enough, after the last time I went through the pile and straightened everything (about two weeks ago), it's remained eerily orderly over there. I ain't asking any questions! Good luck :)

Unknown said...

what's wrong with wearing the same pair of underpants five days in a row?

seriously though, smelly socks? I'd throw a tantrum too...

Michelle | Bleeding Espresso said...

Me again. Just wanted to update that it's almost 2 weeks since I've posted and our triangle is STILL clean. I can't believe it, but I just wanted to pass along hope :)