What’s the oldest things you’re wearing today?

As of the moment, I’m only wearing a t-shirt, shorts, underwear (of course), and a pair of grippy socks. None of these items are new. I think the shorts are the newest, followed by the shirt. The underwear are not new, but comfy and in good condition. Then there’s the socks.

My wife bought these socks out of a “dollar bin” at a flea market kind of place. And while I’m not sure when exactly, it had to be 3-4 years ago. I had mentioned wanting some “grippy socks” some time prior to that. Some people call them hospital socks, because they seem to be given to patients on the regular when in the hospital.

Why grippy socks? We’ve had mostly wood floors in our homes over the last decade or so. And I prefer to just walk around barefoot – inside and outside! However sometimes my feet get cold, and I don’t typically like “house shoes” or “slippers” as some people call them. Also, sometimes if my feet are a bit “clammy”, they’ll stick to the floors when I walk and I find that kinda offensive. It’s still nice to have something on my feet in these situations. And I don’t want to wear out my real socks just walking around inside. So…I thought some grippy socks might be nice. And my wife is nice, and she thought of me when she saw them. She even called me to ask if I wanted them. They’re a bit larger than what I would wear with shoes, so she was just checking before spending that much money (hah) on something I might not wear. But I think they’re sized perfectly – a little loose, but not so loose that they slip off.

But here’s the thing…I lost them not long after she got them for me. And they didn’t turn up for quite some time – like years! I went barefoot mostly anyway, and they only cost a dollar to start with, so it was no big deal.

Then we moved to our current location – in this upstairs “garage apartment” situation at my dad’s place. And this floor is a nice solid wood plank type flooring and a lovely deep espresso color with just a bit of dark cherry. It also is perpetually just a bit tacky/clammy under foot. It also picks up footprints like crazy, and that drives me a bit nutzo trying to keep it clean. So while I would prefer to just walk around barefoot, it feels better with something on my feet, and the floor looks nicer too!

Hence, these “old” grippy socks – as pictured!

But I have a question… since it seems different people in different places have differing names for this, what do you call footwear that is meant for only wearing indoors?