The ‘rock star’ with odd socks

Though I suggested our Bradley change his socks this morning. They were his black Pringle ankle socks and were standing to attention outside his bedroom. I’d have put them in the washing basket myself but I have misplaced the larger of my asbestos tongs. Fortunately the barge pole for teenage boy underwear disposal was to hand.

After his customary 45-minute shower, I pointed him in the direction of my bedroom. “Your white Pringle socks are in my sock drawer,” I told him. “Those are my white Pringle socks,” he replied, pointing to the black socks I was transporting to the wash basket. Those black socks were indeed his white socks.

The oddest thing was he walked out of the bedroom with his phone clasped to his ear and a fresh pair of socks on his feet. He was in mid-conversation so I just pointed at the socks he was wearing. One was a white sock and the other was grey. He looked down, gave me a thumbs-up, and headed back into the bedroom. When he emerged, he was wearing one white sock and one black sock!

He received an electric guitar for his birthday. He has dreams of becoming a rock star. To give him a head start on these dreams, we bought Bradley the guitar in advance of his birthday so he could get started right away.

I called his mother to find out how the guitar work was going. “I’ve never heard him playing it,” she said.

Bradley explained the situation. “Have you seen how hard it is to play?” he said.

Reminded me of the time I used my birthday money to buy myself a set of barbells and a weights bench. I had dreams of developing a body to make the girls’ swoon. In much the same way as owning a guitar doesn’t make you a musician, so owning a weights bench does not an Adonis make. That weight bench and barbell set did, however, make the best clothes horse I’ve owned to date.

It’s good to see some things never change, and dreaming and laziness, like coloured socks, run in the family.