The mystery of the wet socks

First class today and we did the usual--going over the syllabus, talking about expectations, trying to get students to speak up so they get comfortable using their voices. We went over telling details--why it's more interesting to write that someone loves Yorkshire Terriers than to say she likes dogs, to describe her hair as braided and falling over her shoulder rather than simply brown. They had to then talk to each other and write a paragraph about their partner. We also did the object exercise, where each person chooses a slightly weird object and draws it, describes it, and begins to write a story about the object's meaning. Somewhere along the way, I mentioned this abandoned pair of socks I've been seeing as I walk to and from the train. I promised to take a photo of them if they were still there. I decided to do a video instead. In part, it's to convey the idea that if you're thinking like a writer or an artist, you should always be curious, always questions your own assumptions, always keep your eyes wide and ears open. Why are the socks there? Who left them? Where do you have to be in your own head to say, "I'd rather go barefoot then walk another step in these wet socks?" Who does that? What does it mean? How can we find empathy and understanding in the person who left these things behind? And also, why are they still there? If you're the guy/woman who took them off, do you not want them back? Are you not passing them every day and feeling something--embarrassed, amused, annoyed? There's a story in there somewhere. Luckily, they were still there. Perhaps it's a clue to a mystery we'll solve as the class unfolds. Note: I added subtitles to the video in YouTube, which makes it pretty easy to include words and songs if you want them. Click the "CC" button if you want to read the words that accompany the video. I didn't add music because I liked the sound of just the air moving as I was walking forward.