Older People Going Barefoot

I don’t understand why more people of my generation (Baby Boomer) don’t go barefoot all the time. I’m biased though. Retired and barefoot 24/7 is the way I live. No more back, hip or knee pain. And though I can’t point to scientific proof, going barefoot makes me feel younger. I can’t explain that.

Boomers grew up when teenagers went barefoot a lot. I know. I did. I saw it. So now in their “golden years” they choose to stuff their feet in shoes. Going barefoot is a much better choice. I’m living proof even at my advancing age.

 

You are somewhat preaching to the choir on this one. Could not go to the downtown, a mall or grocery store in my neighborhood in a large Midwest city without seeing a least a few young, and not so young, people barefoot. And what would really surprise folks today was the even larger number of shirtless men, esp. in groceries. Lived in a neighborhood where just about everybody under thirty was barefoot in their free time, myself included. A gym was down the street. Probably a quarter of the guys going there were barefoot in summer. Going against stereotype, we had Latinos, mostly men, who did not wear shoes very much. Among my gay male neighbors, it was almost 100% barefoot in summer.

 

Preaching to this choir, too. My childhood was the 60s, and the kid who wore shoes in summer was the "weird" kid. Now I'm in my 60s, and if I feel the need to wear sh*es I slip on a pair of Crocs (ugh).

 

Some of us can't, not that we don't want to. I'm a Boomer too and will be retired within 5 years. In the meantime, I work in a professional kitchen. Not exactly the place to indulge my preference of being barefoot. Once I'm out, I plan to burn a) my chef's coats, b) my HAACP logs, and c) my work shoes. I plan on having the biggest fire for the last one, complete with a champagne toast. In the meantime, I go barefoot every chance I get. Can't wait to join you full-timers!

 

I threw all my navy uniforms away when my four years was up.

 

A few days back I ran into a barefoot skateboarder. The man is 72 years (young). With him was his teenage grandson, also skateboarding barefoot.

The three of us chatted about things in general. But it was pretty amazing, three barefoot guys shooting the breeze on a street corner. And not one of us had tan lines, our bare feet all tanned just like our legs.

That conversation makes me smile. Not sure why other than the fact it is so refreshing to run into other people who like to go barefoot in public.

 

Barefoot Jason that’s how you know if people go barefoot all the time no tan lines . Like when I go fishing there is a guy in his 70’s that is barefoot at the fishing pond I thought I was the only one but no it’s great to see older people go barefoot . I’m in my 50’s and I will never stop going barefoot. I even have it in my well to bury me in bare feet.

 

What an great encounter you had with those barefoot skateboarders, Barefoot Jason. I hope you will enjoy more of those refreshing encounters and conversations with barefooters.

Major kudos to that grandfather for being a good influence on his grandson, both in barefooting and the sport of skateboarding. Glad to hear they were real deal barefooters. (It's a loathsome thing to see tan legs with bare, paper-white feet.)

I really wish there were other barefoot skateboarders in my locale; I am the only one around here. Even at the beach, the few skateboarders I meet are all wearing shoes.

 

Fools, they are.

 

I think silliest of all is a skateboarder in flip flops!

 

OMG yes! But silly is good. Silly barefoot fools! No, not flip-flops. Those are just stupid.

 

Agreed. Wearing shoes on the beach is ridiculous!

 

Skateboarding with flip flops is dangerous. Great way to wreck a person's feet as they tightly clench the flip flops, while at the same time maneuvering and landing a kickflip!

 

Yes, when I was six years old my mom gave me a pair or flip-flops. I realized right away that they were terrible footwear...and why would I want footwear anyway? I was a barefoot boy in the 50s. Shoes? Pfft. Then in the 60's skateboards came out. Flip-flops are awkward, and skateboards difficult to master. Flip-flops and skateboards? Nuts! Here's an odd film...but these boys know how to do it right.

 

Crazy. Yeah, flip-flops are impractical and all that clenching action from trying to hold them on really hurts the feet. Did you see lots of skateboarders riding barefoot in the 60's when you were a kid? I've heard there were many in the mid-70's. I own a copy of photographer Hugh Holland's "Silver Skate 70's" book which is full of photographs of them.

Thanks. I've seen that Skaterdater film. It is excellent! That was an actual skateboard team they hired. Kids knew what they were doing and did it well.

 

You don't see many barefoot skaters anymore...but that's how most old skool west coast skaters did it!

 

That's a lovely little movie! Those boys seem to have some nice skills, considering their ages - and there's not a shoe or sock in sight! I guess if you're a young skater, then bare feet are not only superior to flip-flops, but also sneakers, and those lads knew it all too well... as did the girls, it seems! Those were the days, when the coolest kids on the block were expected to be barefoot, even in the rain!

 

Well I am 71 and just discovered this past summer just how amazing going barefoot is. I am conditioning my feet so I can go hiking barefoot next summer.

 

Never did this as a kid?

 

I go barefoot most of the time since 2019. My back and knees have never felt better.