Author name: Skiffy Fanty

Something that never fails to bring me joy is $1 Target seasonal socks. I know I’m not alone in my enjoyment of fancy, patterned socks—they’re the subject of entire specialty stores, one of which is even a 5-minute drive from my apartment, not to mention the staggering variety available online. Patterned socks are a way to be wild, or twee, or geeky in secret, a mark of personality that doesn’t necessarily have to be shared with anyone else. The only trouble, I find, with many of the patterned socks available out there is their price. If we accept the fatuous financial advice currency of lattes (Give up one latte a day and soon—!) most pairs cost two lattes, if not three. For me, that makes them a “get one pair and try to really, really enjoy it” item. A “self-control” item. And that’s not a simple pleasure anymore. That’s an adulting pleasure, one that drags with it a complicated tangle of required self-control and then guilt if you fail to properly deploy that control. And I understand the appeal of purchasing one, ridiculously expensive chocolate truffle and savoring every single bite (all two of them). I do! But I also understand a wish to sometimes stuff yourself with chocolate and not have to either blow your monthly grocery budget in one trip to the artisan chocolate store or have your coworker look at you and sniff, “How can you eat those store brand chocolates? They taste like wax.”