Granny panties, geekiness, and funny socks

I’m wearing my purple, pink, and blue swirly tights today (you can see them in the “Bad Bad World” video) and lots of people have commented on them. I have whimsical taste in tights and socks, so I get that a lot.

The thing that kills me, though, is that I often hear people say, “I could never wear something like that.”

Why the hell not?

I mean, okay, some workplaces may have extra-specially strict dress codes. But outside of that?

I think maybe people are afraid of looking dumb or having other people laugh at them. Me? I think it’s healthy to be able to laugh at yourself. I give myself ample opportunity to do so – and then I invite others to join in.

For example:

I was visiting family two weekends ago, so naturally that meant using my aunt’s washer and dryer (because I am still not grown up enough to have my own). I was just about ready to pack up my stuff and go when my grandma says, “Did you find my underwear?”

This is not a normal statement one expects to hear from one’s grandmother, even in the context of laundry. Or, at least, it’s not something I expected to hear. So I said, “Uh…no?”

She then says that she had noticed the washer going earlier and just threw her underwear in, so I say, “Well, it must be in my basket then. Let me check.”

A quick paw through the clothes, and I find said underwear.

At this point, my aunt says, “Didn’t you notice when you were folding them?” No, because I tend not to fold underwear or socks – just toss them in the laundry basket.

But, my sister got to the much more interesting point: “Didn’t you notice that they weren’t yours? Unless…YOU WEAR GRANNY PANTIES.”

Now, it’s an odd thing to discover that you and your 88-year-old grandmother do, in fact, wear pretty much the same underwear (mine is several sizes smaller, though, thank you very much). And, since I feel like I need to defend myself about this whenever I bring it up, let me say this: I like to be comfortable; I don’t wear underwear that crawls up my ass. I also don’t see the need for wearing flashy underpants (other than the ruffled undies, which are really outerwear, because they go OVER my regular underwear); no one sees them but me (and, well, anyone else who did would likely be much more interested in getting them off than what they look like on).

So, there you have it. I literally wear granny panties.

Yesterday, I was telling some co-workers about an e-mail I’d received from our great-grandboss asking me a grammatical question related to the proper usage of serial commas. I am a great fan and supporter of the Oxford comma. As I was explaining this (and what an Oxford comma was) to L and E, I suppose I got a little animated.

How do I know this?

Because E said this: "Your geekiness is refreshing. It makes me feel normal."

One of the three best compliments I ever received was in sixth grade when Sarah DiMarco said, “I like your oddness.” Life is too short to spend it worrying what other people are saying about you. Wear the funny socks.