folklore

in the 1950's and '60's it was common to believe that a small gremlin or troll would sneak into the dryer when you weren't looking, and steal your socks. gremlins and trolls would never collect pairs, only mismatched socks. this relatively modern folklore was the inspiration for the "underpants gnomes" on a south park episode. unfortunately, no-one has ever found a gremlin or troll lair, so no-one knows exactly what they do with all the socks they have collected. do they make clothes from them? sell them on e-bay? trade them with other gremlins or trolls, maybe this is there form of currency?

overlapping universes

i spoke with professor james cartwright at MIT, and he revealed one theory about all those missing socks. his theory states that there is more than one universe and occasionally, at random, they overlap. at which point, things from one universe "fall" into the other adjacent universe. this theory states there are virtually an infinite amount of universes, and all of them virtually identical. according to the mathematics of the theory, only small things can make the leap between adjacent universes like socks, keys, glasses of water, etc. and only somewhat insignificant items can leap, otherwise there would be a universal paradox, threatening the fabric of both universes. it is possible for the object to "fall" back into the universe from which it came. if it is likely to do this, it will do so soon after it disappears. it is also possible, however, that it will be transfered to a completely different universe, never to return. so, in another dimension, is there a stockpile of missing socks? unlikely. unfortunately, the socks are probably distributed throughout infinity.