Category: Let's talk
Subject says it all: What's wrong with us who prefer to travel bare of foot? What is so nasty about feet?
If you walk in someplace and you're wearing shoes, chances are you are gdragging in dirt at least as much as us barefooters would. More, in fact. Because I bet you don't wash your shoes every day, but I wash my feet every day. Sometimes multiple times if I head out and am going barefoot, something the Chick doesn't like with us being in the city and Her thinking I'll step on something and get infected.
Feet are on the ground. Not on shelves, doorknobs, countertops, etc. Only time my feet are up anywhere is when I'm at home laying with my feet up, or if I hop up on me counter and stick them in the kitchen sink for a quick wash after coming inside to get the city dust off them.
Also, bare feet do not stink. Feet in tight shoes where they cannot breathe do stink.
So: what you think about us barefooters being free to come and go from stores and bars and such in public? Even dogs are allowed in most bars in Portland. I'm not talking about the well-groomed, nice-looking professional dogs blind people use either. I'm talking the tail-wagging snuffly mangy mutts people keep as pets. Ok not mangy but you get my drift.
As an aside, I would hate to step in dogshit barefoot. But guess what? I've stepped in dogshit with shoes, and either had to throw them away or clean them in boiling water to get it off, depending on how long it took to get home first.
Feet? I'd just go straight hom, use the tub (after scraping them off outside) and wash up real good, and of course wash the tub afterwards.
In the spirit of liberation, let us who prefer to travel bare of foot be free to do so. Nobody yet has offered a real sanitary reason why not.
Honestly, I'd never even thought of this. But I agree with you. I try to follow the rule that it's not hurting me or anyone else who doesn't consent to it, I have no business controlling what others do. I personally would never do it though, especially since where I go to school it gets so hot in the summer that my feet get burned even through my shoes. Also, I would think a lot of businesses would be against it. I would imagine this would open a lot of opportunities for potential lawsuits. Just think, you have that woman who's going after McDonald's for her coffee being too hot or something like that. (Can't remember the details off the top of my head.)
I can't think of any reason you should be forced to wear shoes if you don't
want to. I don't know of any health issues it would pose other than to yourself,
but that is your choice to risk, not mine to choose for you. Wear what you want,
I don't care.
I'm with Cody on this one.
Oh yeah, but I gotta add, you must have attractive feet. lol
I agree, we should be allowed to go barefoot if we want. But Leo, how do you protect yourself against glass and nails? Do you just walk barefoot in places where people are unlikely to drop them?
I had a strange experience with the staff at the Criss Cole center here in Texas. I lived in the dorm for several months so it was like a home for me, and in my home I never wear shoes. The staff told me I had to start wearing them. When I asked why, they said that going barefoot was not sanitary, that I was more likely to get sick. I pointed out to them that classes had just been canceled for several days because most of us were sick, and that after all that time in an enclosed building with all these sick people I never got sick. So they came back with, "other people with diabetes and weak immune systems could get sick." "How," I asked. "Aren't they the ones wearing shoes?" "Well...you just can't do that."
Before that incident I had no idea that some people just had an aversion to bare feet. We're such an illogical species.
I hate walking in bare feet outside simply because it's ouchies". But, many people would have done it in the early days so I suppose it's what you're use too.
Yeh I remember when i was little, my family were coming back from camping somewhere and we stopped in at a pizza hut; I was wearing thongs and they wanted to kick me out because of them.
Ah feet!
If you all follow my post, you know I talk about feet all the time.
I don't think the rules are set due to bare feet being bad, it is just that bare feet cause people to sue businesses.
If you get sick, you can say, the floor were not clean, so I got this or that.
Cut your foot badly enough, so have something dropped on your feet, sue.
People do thing feet are dirty, and for the life of me I don't know why.
Sure, some people have smelly dirty feet, but these people aren't clean otherwise either.
Never thought of it any other way.
I personally will go bare footed if I'm in a place that I trust to not have things to cut my feet, but I wear shoes because not only do the protect my feet, they feel good if you have to walk far.
They add to my outfit as well, and good foot gear is important to me.
Also if the house floors are cold, I wear something, because my feet are soft, so get cold easy.
In the summer no.
I agree with what has been said here. But people sue for almost anything
nowadays, even for having the flor slippery and falling while whirring shoes. I
wouldn't walk bare foot outside, but hey, to each their own. People should do as
they please...
For teh most part, I dont' really care if people go barefoot. but for those of you wondering why people think it's unsanitary, what about foot fungus? You get that stuff anywhere where it's wet or damp--like in public showers, etc. Thats' why they ask you to wear shower flipflops in dorms and such. feet, when in contact with many germs can contract all sorts of nasty conditions--as can all other parts of the skin. However, you don't walk on the sidewalk with your hands. You don't graze the public athroom floor with your elbows or your crotch or... but you might walk there with your bare feet, where it might not be clean or sanitary due to poor maintanence and a lack of a good cleaning. You never knwo what yoru foot might come in contact with then.
For me, personally, I don't find the idea of going barefoot outside very comforting, to I do always prefer to be barefoot indoors. I prefer to have soft soles, not callused, hard ones which you have to develop in order to navigate barefoot outside with success.
why not just carry a pair of flops around for when needed?
and careful or next thing you know, there will be laws enacted saying all dogs must wear footwear when outdoors!
Yes, that is another issue writer. People get sick, they sue.
I personally am not going in to any public bath, or such barefoot.
This topic makes me wonder about something.
During the summer we have places offering live music on their patio, so this draws lots of feet.
Many wear just flip flops, so you just have something on the bottom, and a toe strap to keep them on.
One of the ladies I date, if she’s, wearing heels, takes them off when she dances and I’ve noticed other women doing the same. They will kick off the flops at the tables and such things.
The place and other places haven’t complained direct to us, and they serve the drinks in either plastic bops or like hard plastic glass wear.
The food is served on paper of some sort depending on what it is.
The people go in and out, so I wonder if the feet aversion is place oriented.
I live in Colorado now, but this was true on the beaches or beach bars in California as well.
Wait. If the worry is that yo will go into a bathroom with bare feet, collect
some germy germs and then walk out of the bathroom and spread them all over
the place, then I see two problems with that. First, germy germs will stick to a
shoe much better than they will stick to a foot. People wipe their feet, they don't
wipe their shoes nearly as well. So the germy germs will get on a shoe and be
tracked all over the place just as well if not better than they would with a foot.
Second, if the floor of a bathroom is unclean, its safe to assume that other
surfaces are less than sterile as well. So when you go to the bathroom and
you're done giving that handjob to the hobo or whatever it is you happen to be
doing in a public bathroom, you flush the toilet, open the stall door, touch the
counter, lean against it, turn the water on, wash your hands, then either touch
the paper towel roll or the blower thing. Then you push against the door. Then
you go back out into the public place, maybe touch a table or two, and now
you've spread all these germy germs around everywhere. So it just doesn't
make sense that we require shoes, but don't require rubber gloves.
foot fungus. that's all I'm saying.
Your shoes can't contract foot fungus. at least not on the soles.
while I'd never walk bearfoot outside, I certainly won't tell others they shouldn't do so.
I have almost stepped on something sharp but then jumped my foot away.
I do often wear a pair of flops with a wide strap on the top and no prong between my
toes. One thing about the flops: they don't shrink when washed in hot water, and I use
either dish detergent or antibacterial hand soap when cleaning them.
I do seem to have padded feet, so it may be easier on mine.
Athlete's Foot doesn't do well on smooth concrete. It thrives in the cracks in tile flooring in
gym showers.
I also want to buy those new shoes popular with paleo / cross fit people, that allow your
covered feet to function like bare feet do.
But, flops do work wonders and you can clean them with anything.
Sorry bernadetta, but fungus will stick to just about anything, not just feet. It
might not grow as well on a shoe sole, but it will sure stick to it. So will gum
and mud and dirt and all kinds of germs and all manner of other things that are
ucky and yucky.
And bare feet can always be rinsed off in the tub or sink.
I’ll explain a bit better about the bath rooms.
It isn’t that the germy germs will spread, it is that your feet will pick this up and you can get infections on your feet.
Even if the floors are generally clean, people pee, especially men on the floors, so stepping up to a urinal could be nasty. I personally wouldn’t want to step on this.
People spit, and you name it on the floors, and remember these shoes?
This isn’t a blind thing. The urine can dry and you don’t see it.
Next the cleaning stuff used in bathrooms to clean the floors can be harsh, and this touching your skin can also cause problems for people.
You are supposed to wash your hands after you do all that touching in the bathroom and dry them. I take it a step more buy opening the door with the dry towel if the bathroom smells dirty.
Most places clean reasonable well, but bars don’t have the time during a night do do this, so that room male or female gets pretty nasty.
Suit yourself, but I’m not walking barefoot on anyone’s bathroom floor unless it is in my house.
I wouldn't either, for many reasons. However, just because I wouldn't do it
doesn't mean that I feel I have the right to tell others they aren't allowed to.
There are lots of things I wouldn't do that I don't think should be illegal, walking
around barefoot is just one of them.
As for the idea of getting infected and all that, that's a personal risk. I have
no qualms allowing others to assume what personal risk they choose to assume.
I'd agree with that.
But as a business owner I'd not want to be sued over someones personal rights.
I do wonder if this is the nasty of the people feet in these that dislike it, or the legal problems that motivate it.
My reasons for wondering is as I've stated, during the summer in places nobody seems to get bothered about not having on shes unless going in to a store.
I guess thought in a bar or whatever you are more likely to let your sandals drop or if female and wearing heels, remove these to dance easier. In a store, you are barefoot when you go in or not.
I do know that people think feet are dirty or nasty, and again, I can't figure that one out.
Tried to find some of the new athletic barefoot shoes this weekend but I'll have to hit up the R.E.I. sporting store I think. Anyway that will be my compromise. Yes, I do wear slip-on flip flops quite a bit but they'are not as comfortable as bare feet, and for when I'm not gonna be bare of foot I just use a good pair of walking shoes.
There are die-hard barefooters who refuse to go into places without shoes.
I'm just not that die hard about anything. lol
I have ordered a pair of Hawaii Poli Jesus sandals. These are woven leather and have cushioned soles. I'll tell you what I think about them.
I think part of our semi-instinctual aversion to bare feet came from the less sterile ground that we used to walk on. For example, hookworm used to be a strong risk for people who didn't wear shoes. Now, this has been mostly eliminated, at least in developed countries. I think this might be part of the cause. As for my opinion, I don't see any reason against allowing this. Just make sure you're safe, and I'll leave it up to you.
The Pali's make you just about barefoot, and they are soft and easy to drop under a table.
Guess these things are popular.
If you enjoy barefoot, but have to go in places, these would do.
Wayne thanks for this.
As to the hookworm comment, yes. This unsanitary mess came to us via agriculture. Before that, in paleolithic times, people moved around a lot and so you didn't have the type of waste buildup that creates environments that harbor these types of nasties.
I'm pretty sure most places that don't allow bare feet do so for either
presentation or safety reasons, which both are completely reasonable
considering it's a private establishment, and at least where I live there is no
problem going barefoot, but maybe I just don't know everything.