Great Socks!

As I rode down in the elevator to receive my pizza delivery, wearing no shoes, in just my purposely mismatched polka-dot sock feet, a neighbor commented, "great socks!"
 
Now, anyone who knows me knows that I have been into novelty socks for quite some time. I have been known to give entertaining socks as gifts (and not just to my kids, but to my coworkers!) Much of the day, my wacky socks are hidden under my shoes, so that I'm the only one who knows they're there. Sometimes just a tiny bit peeks out between pants and shoes. But no matter how much anyone else sees, I firmly believe that amusing socks make my whole daily outlook brighter.
 
The question is, how do you go out into the world as a professional while wearing socks covered with pictures of sushi or ice cream cones?
 
The way I see it, there are several approaches:
 
1. Keep it under your shoes and no one has to know. Easy in the winter, trickier in the summer. If you are in stylish boots, no one but you ever has to know you're a sock junkie. And in the summer, they'll just wonder why you're in stylish boots rather than stylish sandals, to which you can reply that you are protecting your feet from city dirt. (They may think that's a weird excuse, but they still won't know about your socks).
 
2. Leave your wacky socks at home when you have to make a professional impression. Black ones are not nearly as uplifting, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, right?
 
3. Embrace your wacky sockishness and surround yourself with people who will appreciate it. (Which is what I mostly did at ABC, though I don't know if people really appreciated the sockishness or appreciated me and just accepted my sockishness!) (And which is probably why I gravitate toward creative and/or kid-oriented workplaces.)
 
I'm really glad the neighbor in the elevator commented on my socks--in doing so, she reminded me that although we are called upon to conform in many situations, it's okay, really okay, to express who WE are, and to hold on to that, whether it is out there in the open (no shoes) or sometimes kept under wraps (go, stylish boots!)
 
Perhaps tomorrow, I'll wear my sushi socks...