Dirtiest place gone barefoot?

By dirtiest, I don't mean dirty as in dirt from hiking. I mean dirty as in grime and grease walking through a busy city or something like that.

The craziest place we ever went to was when my husband and I took our kids last January to NYC for a holiday. Normally we are used to being barefoot everywhere so we don't mind the stares but in NYC nobody bothered us in public cause of how busy they all probably were. The subways really turned out feet black, as did the footpaths in and around the cities. Nothing will match up to the level of dirtiness we reached there, it was pretty mad.

 

I go barefoot through the streets and shops of the Pittsburgh Strip District. The old blacktop and brick paved streets are filthy. The sidewalks and floors of the shops aren’t much better although those storekeepers try their best to keep em clean. The cool thing about this area is the store owners could probably care less about their customers being barefoot. At least I’ve never had an issue.

 

I had to go to Boston to do equipment training for work. I took Amtrak and had to change trains at Penn Station. I was barefoot and didn’t know what reactions I would get when I got there. The place was packed. Wall to wall people from the train platform up to the waiting room. I took a seat near the gate and when the crowd cleared a little I was right across from the Amtrak Police Station. The officers were there looking at the crowd and some were patrolling, but nothing was said about my bare feet. They had to notice especially when they walked past me. You are right Bareymommy, this place is awesome and my soles were a mess. The floor in the station was pretty clean so I think most of it came from the platforms and stairs that I used to get to the concourse.

 

I think walking on beaches were dogs are allowed is a rather silly crappy thing to do.
Irresponsible dog owners who allow their dogs to shit on the pavement without bagging up after themselves, are not gonna worry about sand.
How on earth any dogs are allowed on public beaches, particularly were children go is beyond me.

Dog shit is really deadly stuff!

The Law

The Control of Dogs Ordinance (1992) applies to all public places and states that an offence is committed if a person in charge of a dog fails to clean up his faeces. It is no defence to claim ignorance of the dog’s actions, the law, or not to have a device available to remove the faeces. This could result in a prosecution and fine.

Health Risks

All faeces contains bacteria that can cause stomach upsets if ingested. However, the greatest risk to public health from dog faeces is toxocariasis.

Toxocariasis

Toxocariasis is an infection of the round worm, spread via unwashed vegetables and dog faeces. Young children in particular are at risk due to their weaker immune systems and because they are more likely to expose themselves by ingesting the eggs. A puppy can pass as many as 15,000 eggs per gram of faeces, and they are a major source of environmental contamination.

Each T. canis female can lay up to 700 eggs a day. These are passed out when the dog defecates and can survive for up to three years in soil. After two to three weeks of warm weather the eggs develop into an embryo state, containing larva - this is when they become infective to dogs and people. The larvae try to migrate through the human body as they would in a dog's, but the human body treats them as foreign material, which causes a reaction and tissue damage.

There are two types of toxocariasis: visceral larva migrans (VLM) and ocular larva migrans (OLM).

In VLM, the larvae reach the liver, causing inflammation and symptoms such as abdominal pain and pyrexia. Most people recover spontaneously.

OLM occurs when a migrating larva reaches the eye. It causes a granuloma to form on the retina, causing significant visual impairment and in severe cases even blindness.

There are about 12 new cases of OLM diagnosed annually in the UK5.

Reduce the Risk

• Pick up after your dog every time your dog makes a mess. Keep a packet of bags next to the dog's lead as a reminder to take them with you.
• Ensure you regularly worm your dog - every three to six months. Use a prescription wormer from a veterinary surgeon.
• Do not take dogs into parks that have children's playgrounds. The Control of Dogs Ordinance (1992) specifies that dogs are prohibited from children’s play areas such as those at Sausmarez Park as well as other specified public grounds such as La Vallette Bathing Pools.
• Do not let your dog off lead if they are likely to run out of sight. If you can’t see them how can you know if or where they have had a poo!

Bag It and Bin It

A poo bag is very similar to a nappy sack. It is a small plastic bag with two handles at the top. A knot can be tied in the handles to seal them closed. The filled bag should either be carried home for safe disposal via the refuse bin or dog loo, or placed in one of the dedicated 'poo bins', provided across the Island.

Alternatively use a 'poop scoop' which is a very simple plastic claw device that is used in conjunction with 'poop bags'.

 

Camelback Mall in Phoenix, Az. Its an outdoor mall where the walkways are cobblestones worn smooth from all the foot traffic. I was in Phoenix for work, my hotel was next to the mall. I finished up early one day and decided to walk over. This was in February so the temps were mild and very comfortable. It does not rain much in Phoenix so the walkways don't get the natural washing you'd see in other locales. After walking around for a while, grabbing something to eat and then heading back to my room I was shocked at how black my soles were.

 

new orleans french 1/4
but only because I woke up without any shoes

 

When I go to the farm for eggs and veggies I always stay clear of the chickenhouse and its immediate surroundings to minimize the amount of chicken dung I may be treading on. The local population of chicken and geese roams freely among the olive trees (producing very superior eggs albeit pretty small) ,so there is little chance to avoid it completely though. But shit is called 'shit' for a reason... about the dog owners, I only feel a mix of disgust and amusement watching them perpetually scooping up the vilest substance on earth for the privilege of having to bother with the canine. To each one his own, I guess. Those I hate are the lowlives than let their dogs free to litter the sidewalks and never clean up after them though. In some parts of the town people are forced to go slaloming among dogpiles , once I counted sixteen of them in 50 meters. I hope their dogs give'em rabies.

 

I think the dirtiest place I've been is downtown LA. I don't know why, but it seemed really dirty. In the days of the dinosaurs, when I was still going to raves, many parties were thrown at a venue called The Orion. It wasn't the cleanest club I've ever been to, but we were a close-knit community and no one seemed to care. We sat on the grungy upholstery of the seats, crawled around on the stone floors, and littered the steps with fliers and expired glowsticks with relish and glee... Well, outside the venue were allies and such; dirty little neglected spaces where you'd be hard-pressed to get a streetsweeper, let alone keep a homeless guy from peeing.

So, although I was never barefoot there, it was certainly not a cleanly environment. those were the days though

 

Hmmmm! Wonder what happened there????!

 

Walked The Strip in Vegas barefoot a few years ago. Had flipflops on when we left the hotel; they lasted a block or two before they ended up in the trash. I think I was more surprised at how the sidewalks weren't blistering hot than how black my feet got.

 

when i was a kid i used to go into the chicken coop barefoot. i figured it was easier to clean my feet than to clean out the grooves in the soles of my shoes.

 

most double posty place i've gone barefoot is hipforums. it was awful last week, and i just blamed the fact that i was on my phone in a place without good service. but now i'm back home and this shit happens.

 

I remember when I turned about 8 or 9 my parents expected me to start cleaning out the cattleshed. I grew up barefoot and didn't wear shoes or socks (maybe a bit much) until I became a teenager. I remember the first time I had to go clean it out, I felt so weird because there's be poo everywhere bit eventually I stopped caring. As you said, waaay less messy than cleaning boots. Cleaning poo from the soles of your feet is way easier than from boots. Plus as weird as it sounds, they feel really nice on your feet in summer.

 

I think reading the comments maybe this should be split into two categories the dirtiest place and the least hygienic place we've all been barefoot.

The dirtiest or blackest my soles get is whenever I have to use the public transport and trains into the nearby city. They have a massive train station and my soles are black even before I've started my day wandering around the city centre in and out of shops.

I've stepped in dog, cow and horse poop a few times and the most disgusting is public toilets sometimes you gotta stand in a puddle of urine because you gotta go yourself.

 

Lol.

 

Yes, for general dirtiness, just public transport.

For hygiene, I try to avoid particularly bad public toilets, but sometimes you gotta go and whether you get piss on your feet or not ends up mattering less. There's something horrid about human bodily fluids (or solids) compared to generic dog or cow poo.

 

i have often taken my kids into the central city for various things (we are in the suburbs). Feet tend to get really dirty there, on the pavement etc. For me its a badge of honour LOL

 

My college dorm room.

 

Nice black soles is a badge of honor for me too.