Jamie Garrett’s Near-Perfect Vacation Nearly Ruined By One Black Sock

As I was packing my suitcase for a weeklong trip to the beach, I made sure to leave out were shoes & socks.  One pair of Chaco sandals and I was on my way.  I took it as a source of pride, escaping the corporate grip of the man.  Almost.

Swimming trunks?  Check.  Tank tops?  Check.  Sunscreen?  Check.  One black sock?  Check???  Yes, 1500+ miles over 24 hours of driving just to get to a shark-infested beach, and yet every time I think I'm out, they suck me back in.  With a black sock.

It may seem silly for me to let a single black sock get into my head and pull me out of the margarita-mentality into thinking about work, but that's exactly what happened.  Not even being forced to bust out my microphone and laptop to record a commercial for a client in Alaska affected me like that one black sock.

This is the first out-of-state vacation in about eight years, and my first to the Outer Banks since 2004.  It was also my first chance to completely escape the pressures of my job(s) in several years.  I wanted to leave it all behind, and thanks to utterly useless phone service from my provider, it almost happened.  Yet, there was that damn black sock, falling out of my suitcase and onto the floor.

As soon as I saw the lone sock hit the floor, it all came rushing back.  12 hour days.  Car lot remotes.  TPS reports.  They all came flooding back.  The first thought to enter my mind after I kicked the sock under the bed was, "I can never escape".  A little too much drama caused by one sock?  You just don't even know.

Some would point out that I don't even dress up for work.  Good point.  When I can, I go with shorts and sandals, but that's only because I went a full year-plus without a good pair of sandals, thus making every day since a jeans/khakis and button-down kind of day.  Jeans and a button-down shirt IS dressing up for radio DJs, and to not be the guy wearing white socks with dress shoes I always go with black socks.

It wasn't even that the sock was there.  It's also that the sock kept reappearing.  I'd kick it under the bed, but by the end of the day it was back in full view, taunting my vacation mentality.  I was on the verge of throwing away the sock just to make a point, but the thought of a workday morning starting with a search for a now-gone-forever black sock to match the single sock I found in the laundry was just too much to take.  Back into the suitcase it went.

Right about the time that work was creeping back into my mind, I made an executive decision.  That decision?  Tequila.  I found the nearest adult I could find (never good to take tequila shots on your own - just sad) and convinced them to take a few shots.  A few (oversized) shots of 100% Agave tequila was all it took.

Within an hour I was back at the beach, and (for the only time during the whole week) I was brave enough to take on the waves (and sharks) with the boogie board.  It's amazing how tequila, a boogie board and a few waves pulling down your swimming trunks while riding a wave can make you forget about a black sock.