White Socks

     Today when I was walking down the street a couple blocks from our apartment a middle-aged Anglo fellow caught my eye and asked me if I knew where he could buy some women's socks.  White socks.  He said he was going to a funeral.  I suggested walking down the other side of the street, where I knew I'd seen some small shops with rows of socks laid out on tables right there by the sidewalk.  I also said I'd seen some at the big ParkNShop across the street.  I offered to walk him over to that store and show him.  While we were crossing the street and making our way to the sock aisle I found out that he was from New York, but spends half his time in Hong Kong and half in a Chinese city that's a 90-minute ferry ride from here.  He works in manufacturing.  (Of course. That's why the majority of Americans are in China.)
     I got bold and asked about the white socks.  Is it a tradition to wear white socks to a Chinese funeral? I knew that Chinese people associate the color white with death.  Yes, he said, his father-in-law had died in Taiwan and it was his job to bring back new white socks for everyone to wear to the funeral.
     This makes me wonder if people are looking askance at the white gym socks I wear when I go to exercise class in the park.