Gannon Knight Perspective

     Outside of my apartment, there is a tree. On the tree, there is a branch. And on that branch, there is a… sock.
     These may sound like words to an annoying childhood song, but in reality, there quite literally is a sock on a tree that I walk past on my way to class every day.
     For the past three weeks, I’ve been wondering how it got there. I hope that the sock was merely a victim of a traveling laundry basket mishap instead of managing to find its way off of someone’s foot.
     I’d imagine then that someone had to put the sock on the branch, which stands about six feet off the ground… unless some adventurous person felt the need to climb the snowy tree without their shoes and didn’t seem to care if they ended up barefoot.
     I’m not sure if the sock represents the strange humor that can only come from bored college students – a

population that makes up a large percentage of the neighborhood – or a human being’s ability to simply not care enough to make a change.
     Are we so starved for entertainment that we resort to doing things like this?
     I hope that the creative mind that put the sock on the branch is friends with the same person who managed to hang multiple pairs of women’s underwear from the trees outside of Harborview House Apartments.
     Apparently there is a need for some sort of patrol that monitors the fashion habits of Erie’s native plant life… or at least asks the trees to be decent enough to cover the rest of their bodies – it must be quite chilly out there with just a sock or underwear on. The poor naked thing might catch a cold.
     Why haven’t I taken the sock down myself? I’m testing to see how long it takes someone else to notice it and do something about it – so far the count is at about three weeks, minimum.
     I’m also no better than the rest of the people who have walked by that partially clothed tree and said, “Hmm… that’s… interesting,” and kept on walking.
     The tree isn’t going anywhere, and it’s not being harmed by the sock, so it can’t hurt to let it thaw a little before I venture out to throw it away.
     If you’re missing a sock, check out the 200 block of West Eighth Street – it’ll probably still be there tomorrow.

JACKIE OESMANN
oesmann001@gannon.edu