I’m no fashion trendsetter, but I don’t go to work wearing the kind of footwear I was photographed in recently: crazy, loud-colored socks, moccasin slippers and white skinny jeans.

Not a cool look!

Let me explain.

We were working on a story about how those disease-carrying ticks will be spreading like crazy this year after all the rain we’ve had.

Pest control experts we interviewed said a good preventative is to wear socks and shoes when working in the garden or walking in the woods, and to tuck your pants into your socks. Ticks tend to jump on your ankles or lower legs, and if your socks are tucked in, they can’t access our skin as easily.

On top of that, experts advise wearing light colors, so that you can more easily see it if a tick gets on you.

We needed to illustrate this visually with a photo. I looked around the newsroom and many of us (myself included) were wearing sandals or really short socks. One guy, audience engagement editor Larry Gilbert Jr., was wearing shoes and socks long enough to tuck his pants in.

That’ll do, we concluded.

Being a good sport, Larry went outside with photographer Russ Dillingham. Larry tucked his pants into his socks and Russ took photos. We were all set — or so we thought.

“Hold the phone!” photographer Andree Kehn said. “You should be wearing light colors! Larry’s socks are black; his pants, dark.” She rightly insisted that if we ran that photo, we would hear from experts that dark colors are not the best.

I, unfortunately, was wearing white pants. But I had no socks and shoes.

Andree rummaged around and came up with some goofy-looking socks and slippers. I took off my sandals, put on the socks and slippers and tucked my pants into the socks while she took photos in Kennedy Park.

The photo ran. She even put my name in the caption.

Humilitated but laughing, I came back into the newsroom saying, “Look at me!”

My editors who laughed out loud.

What we do for a story. — Bonnie Washuk

“When are you going to retire?”

While I’m on the theme of humiliation, I was interviewing Auburn voters for the June 13 school budget referendum.

As voters came out of the booths, I asked for their names, how they voted and why.

Lots of people don’t care to comment. Lots do. Sometimes it’s fun, being out there talking to folks like a Walmart greeter.

One person I asked for comment was a retired Auburn police officer whom I’d check in with when I was doing the police beat years ago.

He recognized me. “When are you going to retire?” he asked.

I wasn’t sure what to say, but I certainly thought: “Do I look that old?” or “Don’t you know newspaper jobs don’t come with pensions?” I just smiled and gave him some pathetic answer.

True, you can see the passage of time by the gray roots in my hair, but I’m not ready for the rocking chair yet.

Back in the newsroom, we joked that at age 60, I’ll be here for “decades” more.

Or, I could become a greeter. — Bonnie Washuk