I'll try to keep this as "family appropriate" as possible...

I was wondering if it would work to install a wall socket in my shop that isn't actually connected to an electrical box? The socket would have wires that were grounded to something like a metal pole, or whatever. It would be easy to just "plug in" an electronic device and let any stored electricity discharge. Would something like that work?

Scrapside actually had a really good idea, that I have seen used before in TV repair shops. You could put up a wall box and ground it to a 4 foot ground rod outside the shop where you tear down "stuff". You could use a plug in BUT so as not to confuse it with an electric plug in I would use a 1/4" mono plug in and install the female into the wall box. Add the male half to some 12-10 gauge wire long enough to go to your work bench and then add a ground clamp to the end of it. Clamp that to your long screwdriver to discharge with, and any voltage would go outside to the earth ground. Here's the female that could be installed in a wall box. And here is the male to add to the ground wire. And here would be the Clamp for the other end. I hope I didn't confuse anyone, I tried to keep it simple.