I saw this in today's strip: A guy and girl are talking about carrying guns in Starbucks, and the girl has some attitude about it. She says "just because open carry is legal" does Starbucks have to condone it? Then she says "They don't tolerate people being loud or rude or barefoot or openly nursing but a bunch of yahoos swaggeringinto a family coffee shop" and so on." So is she saying bare feet are like being loud or rude or breastfeeding?
I think it's not meant to be judgmental toward barefoot people; it's just stating a fact (or a stereotype), or mocking the idea that one may be intolerant of all those behaviors, which are quite harmless compared to carrying a gun. (I'd rather deal with a rude person than with a person who's carrying a gun.) (However, I must say I've visited Starbucks barefoot with no problems before.)
It is a cartoon mocking open carry. We all know barefoot acceptance is low, but we cannot take it personally. Hey, would you rarther be grouped with loud and rude or openly nursing? Loud and rude has better acceptance!
I don't know. Being barefoot seems to be grouped with being loud and rude (can't fuigure out the openly nursing part). I've been in one or two of them and nobody said anything so I can't figure it out. Its supposed to be one of those liberal strips, right?
Actually I've found Starbuck's to be one of the most barefoot friendly places to visit. I've probably gone into 60-70 of them and have never had any negative comments. Nobody's made any comment positive or negative that I'm not wearing shoes. I figure they're catering to the "I just rolled out of bed" crowd. In several posts I've suggested Starbuck's as a good "first stop" to those who want to go barefoot but want to have some guaranteed positive experiences up-front before "venturing into the unknown." By the way, I had an interesting experience in a Safeway grocery a few weeks ago. As background for those who haven't been in this forum very long, I had a run-in at a different Safeway last year and contacted their corporate headquarters. I was assured Safeway has no policy against being barefoot in their stores. Anyhow, getting back to my story, a few weeks ago I went into a Safeway without shoes. As I approached the checkout, the manager came up to me and politely said, "I'm sorry sir, but would you please wear shoes next time. It's a health issue" It was great! I calmly explained to him that it's not a health issue, that I'd pursued it with his corporate headquarters, and that he could call the manager of the other store if he'd like clarification. The manager looked like he'd been hit by a bus! As I walked away he meekly muttered, "So, you just don't like shoes"? I said, "Yes." and continued on my way.
