DEAR ABBY: This letter is for all of those frustrated housewives who wonder if they've gone off their rockers when they find only one sock in the washing machine. You dealt with this problem some time ago by stating that washers and dryers do not eat socks.
Sorry, Abby, but the washer is, in fact, the culprit. I have worked in customer service for General Electric Major Home Appliance Repairs for many years, and we were instructed to tell our customers that the washing action of the water will sometimes push a lighter item, i.e. a sock or washcloth, over the top of the inner tub into the space between the inner and outer tub -- and during the pumping cycle it can be washed down the sewer.
I have scheduled hundreds of service calls for socks to be removed from the pump of a washing machine. So, women, take heart, and tell your husbands to go yell at the washer! -- NEW ORLEANS WOMAN
DEAR NEW ORLEANS WOMAN: I'm sure that many who have thought they were going crazy after discovering an odd number of socks in their washing machines will appreciate your explanation. Here's suds in your eye!