Tube Sock Smacked

It's been a long time since I donned the halls of my high school. And I mean LOOONNGGG time (read: over 20 years!). I remember the cliques, the loners, the artsy-fartsies, the geek, the freak, the perma-couple, the jocks, and the metal heads. And, in a class of only 29 we pretty much had only one of each. I also remember being SO very glad to get out of high school and into the "real" world where I wouldn't have to deal with all that junk.

Fast forward 20 (or so) years. I live in a cute house in the suburbs. I have 3 kids and my husband's a hottie (at least to me!). I know a good number of my neighbors, my kids play with all the kids on the street and we eat meals regularly with other families in the 'hood. "It's a Barrydale thing ..." We love it.

As I walked/ran through the neighborhood tonight I crossed paths with a woman we on Barrydale affectionately call "Tube Socks". She's kind of like the kid in high school that everyone takes a second glance at, the kid who everyone recognizes but nobody knows. She's "Tube Socks". She walks with very exaggerated movements, she almost bounces as she walks. She wears large sunglasses, short shorts and tube socks. You can't pass her without taking that second glance.



For two years now we've all noticed "Tube Socks". The first sign of spring is that "Tube Socks" is out. We note our "Tube Socks" sightings on facebook. We speculate on her age and stage of life. We were shocked to see her sporting ankle socks last week.

We haven't come too far from high school have we. Is this what the "real" world is? We're still labeling and not knowing. We've got "crazy old guy who wears running shorts and tank top for running ALL year". We've got "party students" at the end of the street. We've got "jerk who lets his sump-pump flood the community mailbox". We haven't changed a bit.

Sometimes the smack in the face we need comes from the last place you expect. In this case I got smacked by my ten year old.

And I mean SMACKED.

We were driving to the library and I spotted "Tube Socks". So I casually mentioned, half under my breath "There's Tube Socks." And from the back of the van Eden pipes up, "Don't you think it's about time you get to know her real name mom?"

Smack.

"Don't you think it's about time you get to know her real name?"

Wow! From the mouths of kids. Wisdom. Just the smacking I needed.

So that's my challenge. I need to get to know "Tube Socks". Drop the nick name. Get to know her. And how about the partiers at the end of the street? And too-short-shorts guy? And irritating-water guy? What do you think Eden, should I get to know their names too? Probably.