WHITE SOCKS & MOCS

My father's baby brother was named Howard, but all eight of his sibs always called him Punk. I've always wondered where that nickname came from, because he wasn't a punk at all.

Then the other day I was looking through a book of the family's genealogy and it leapt out at me. My grandfather Clinton George Cullison had a brother named Howard Chester Cullison who was nicknamed Punkie. So when my dad's brother Howard came along, they nicknamed him Punk in honor of their uncle Howard. Simple.

Unfortunately, the book had no answer about why my father used the nickname Larry for his sister Rita. Must have been something from their early years.

At any rate, Howard had two boys, Steve and Danny. Stevie was a couple years older than I was and Danny was a month younger than I. And like teenage kids of any generation, they liked to make fun of their old man and his old man ways. I remember them ragging on Punk for always wearing white socks and moccasins. Made fun of him for being a farmer or a hillbilly.

Of course I joined in the hilarity over the white socks and mocs deal. That's just the way kids are about grownups. The adults might be in charge, but we could still make fun of them, generally behind their backs. And we were all city kids back then, so calling somebody a farmer or hillbilly was the highest insult we knew.

As it turned out, Punk didn't wear white socks as a fashion statement, he worse them because the dye in colored socks irritated his feet. I guess socks weren't terribly color-fast in those days. And he wore the mocs because they were comfortable after wearing heavy-soled work shoes every day on the job as a security guard.

Life often has a funny way of biting us in the ass or making us seem silly. So it is with white socks and mocs. I haven't worn colored socks since the last time I went to a wedding or funeral and truth be told, I've gotten rid of all but a couple pairs. Along with the white socks I also wear Minnetonkas. In the house and out--different models, of course.

So, as Pogo said, we have met the enemy and he is us. Or something like that.