Others Barefoot in Public?

'Sokay, weez, we still like you anyway

 

I'm pals with anarcho-syndicalists too, don't worry. :cheers2:

 

i saw some guy barefoot about a week ago.

i go barefoot mostly all the time.
i got kicked out of publix.

 

Even though I started this thread, I'm trying to decide what constitutes "barefoot in public." Initially, I thought that meant someone, in public, barefoot, and no shoes evident (i.e., carrying them). I realized maybe this wasn't the right definition. For example, yesterday I was in the Houston Bush Airport. There was a barefoot woman with her feet propped up in her husband's (?) lap, wiggling her toes and rubbing his thigh. I've recently seen several cars with conspicuous bare toes on the dash or bare feet hanging out the window. Do others have an opinion on what constitutes "barefoot in public"?

FYI - this morning I went barefoot to the medical lab for a blood draw, a coffee shop, and got gas. I've got errands to run later in the day (bank, grocery, others?) - no shoes planned for those visits either.

 

I think "barefoot in public" means you have to be barefoot (with or without shoes in hand---I'm routinely barefoot on weekends with shoes at home but during the work week I am carrying them) and in a public (i.e., populated) setting, where people can see you are barefoot, whether your are walking through your neighborhood (with only the occasional passerby) or doing commercial chores. People hanging their bare feet out of the window do qualify; people with their bare feet inside the car don't qualify. IMHO. LOL. TTFN. WTF.

 

I'm sorry to hear your coffe upset your stomach.

 

>FYI - this morning I went barefoot to the medical lab for a blood draw, a
> coffee shop, and got gas.

Nothing to do with barefooting, but it reminds me of when I asked my GF if she'd like to swap positions tonight. She said "That's a good idea - you stand by the ironing board while I sit on the sofa and fart!"iggy:

 

You guys are on fire!

 

In my opinion, the feet have to be in direct contact with the ground, and the person has to at some point be standing up, for it to count.

For example, people sitting in chairs with their shoes off, but who put them back on to take three steps to the bookshelf, do not count.

And although I mentioned bare feet on car dashboards in an earlier post on this thread, most of the soles I see are far too clean to belong to true barefooters, so most of them probably wouldn't count either. Plus, a person's car isn't really public. Also, unless they are seen standing up at some point, which it's really hard to do inside most cars, they don't fit that criterion, either.

The only area I'm not quite sure about is fitting rooms in clothing stores. Oftentimes a shopper will walk outside of the fitting room to show someone the fashion they are sampling without bothering to put their shoes back on, but are they really barefoot? Their shoes are only a few feet away, and they took them off for a reason that would have made keeping them on impossible. So, are they barefoot or not? Jury's still out on that one.

 

But what if someone is barefoot in a car full of people? And how many people exactly? Does just one more person count? Can this person be a relative or a friend? Does biking barefoot count? After all, the soles are not touching the ground.

Precision is important.

 

Oh, by the way, I was being sarcastic. :-D

 

In my opinion, being barefoot in public just means you are in a public place (cars count) with your shoes off for an extended period of time. Preferably without your shoes present, but sometimes that isn't practical.

 

OMG StraightToes, I just about fell out of my chair laughing when I read this! :rofl: I don't know if you wrote that on purpose, but thanks a lot for the laugh---I needed it!

 

That's funny!! No, it was totally unintentional, but looking back at it, I get your point!!

Going back to what is "barefoot in public," I've thought about what it means - at least to me. I guess to me it's seeing bare feet in a setting in which it's not standard in our society. Seeing bare feet at a swimming pool doesn't count. Seeing bare feet hanging out a car window could count. Oh well, we each have our own feelings on the topic.

Last night a large group of us went to a nice retaurant for dinner. Fortunately in Colorado, shorts and flip-flops are appropriate attire for most any dining establishment. As soon as I sat down, I kicked off my flip-flops and pushed them far under the table. Things like that are sort of a gray area for me. I typically wouldn't say that I was barefoot in public, but to someone passing by, they'd probably say I was. I guess it's all in the eye of the observer.

 

Okay, I know I just posted here earlier today, but this one about blew me away,...

The guy across the street from us is the same age as me, has his own insurance agency, dresses the part (conservative), and I've only seen him without shoes twice in the years I've known him. Both times I saw him barefoot it was during quick runs to grab the newspaper or get something from the patio.

This morning our doorbell rang. When I opened the door, there was my neighbor in shorts and barefoot! He had come over to ask me a quick question. Yeah, he had left the security of his yard, crossed the street, and come to our house in his bare feet!! Maybe his seeing me without shoes most all the time it's warm had an effect on him. I'll have to see if he does it more - maybe I've converted him!

 

Okay, I'm on a roll here with this being three entries in a row. Sunday evening, my wife an I went for a long walk ending at the grocery store. Okay, I was wearing flip-flops - walking that far barfeoot on hard concrete would take its toll. Anyhow, as we approached the grocery, there was a 16-18 year old girl sitting on a curb in the side parking lot of the store speaking with a guy. She was barefoot with no shoes in sight.

I don't know. From what I've seen, I think I live in a pretty barefoot-friendly part of the country. It's not like I see people without shoes every day, but maybe once/week? If I went to Boulder it would probably be a lot more frequent.

 

I don't know, either. When I lived in Colorado, I spent quite a lot of time in Boulder. (My sister went to school there and I lived in Broomfield, so it was an easy trip.) I don't remember seeing any abnormally high number of barefoot people there. In fact, I only recall one that was really "out-of-place." I didn't spend a lot of time on campus, but college campuses tend to be pretty barefoot-friendly anyway, so I wouldn't think that was any indication.

There does seem to be a geographical relationship, however. For example, just here in Southern California, I know a few places where you can almost always spot barefooters (and I don't mean the beach), and others where you will pretty much never see one.

 

For example, the Pearl St. Mall, in front of the courthouse. You wouldn't have to wait long.

 

Now that the weather is warmer, I've been noticing that many of my neighbors have been barefoot--at least in the front yards doing light yard work or just lounging on the front steps of their homes. I don't even live near the beach (about 10-12 miles inland from it). Just last week as I was driving down the street, I saw a guy walking barefoot crossing the street from the neighbor's house to his house.

StraightToes, maybe your neighbor has become a barefoot convert, just from your being an example of a true barefooter!

 

We did a university pantomime a couple of years ago, one of the girls in the cast went barefoot for the entire production, rehearsals and performances. I was intriuged but there were so many of her friends around I never had chance to ask her about it.

No-one i saw made any negative comments to her either, which was nice.