Twisted sock
Kids are always whining about something. Often, when they have no complaint, they'll make up something, just to keep themselves amused. One day when I was still in that stage where I needed help with my socks and shoes, my father put them on me. The sock looked straight and aligned from the ankle up, and even the heel was properly positioned, but down on the upper part of the foot, behind the toes, the fabric was twisted and pulled my skin to one side. I noticed this before he put my shoes on. I may have used some imprecise, childish phrase like "It's not on right." He said the sock was on just fine. And judging by the heel, the toe segment, and the ribbed area over the ankle, it was. But it was stretched and twisted across the fore deck (why is there no name for this part of the foot?), and to my child's mind, it actually hurt. After he put the shoes on, I asked him to fix the sock. He said the sock was on just fine. On the way to the car I asked him if I could fix it. He said we were in a hurry, and the sock was on just fine. After we got where we were going, we did some stuff, and I asked him again if I could fix it. He gave a tolerant little sigh, as if indulging my fantasy, and said I could. I recall seeing the fabric twisted in a spiral across my foot. I untwisted it with relief. After I put the shoe back on I said "There, now it's fixed." He never paid attention to his mistakes, so in his mind, the invented complaint was over.
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