For the past year or so, my fellow parents and I have noticed an epidemic of mismatched socks on the toes of our teens. The kids around here wear contrasting hosiery with pride. Like most parents, I poke my progeny for clues to keep me up-to-date on the latest trend amongst the teeny-bopper set (<-ha! I said teeny-bopper). So this morning when I witnessed one purple sock and one black and white striped sock on my HMS student's feet, I asked her, finally, what was up with this fad. "Fad?" she said with that less-than-subtle lilt of annoyance that is the Official Language of the Teendom. "It isn't a 'fad!' We're all just too lazy to find the matching pair." Oh and alas, no truer words were probably spoken. Yet, when we adults see fashion trends and other waves like this, we think there's some method behind their madness. It must be yet another cagey and crafty effort to sneak in a blow to the "man." Yeah. No. Just laziness. Which in itself is a pretty substantial blow to the man anyway. ... These children might be playing with us. Photo Credit: Fidelio (Gaby Av) on Flickr … [Read more...]