Others Barefoot in Public?

i love going barefoot. and i love the looks i get from it. it's a lot of fun but i hardly ever see anyone else barefoot. it's quite sad. they don't know what they are missing.

 

Yeah, I wasn't sure I was going to make it out. The forecast was for thunderstorms all day. After my meetings this morning, I drove toward Hobby Airport. Around 10:30 AM, the skies opened up and I figured that was the beginning. I went to a Marriott (barefoot by then) to connect to an on-line presentation. While I was in there the weather settled down. Later I went to a Denny's to grab lunch and then to the airport. The thunderstorms never developed, and my flight was only about 30 minutes late.

I flew barefoot to Denver, but by the time I got here the temperature had dropped to 28 F and it was snowing. I went through the terminal without shoes but put on flip-flops to catch the parking lot shuttle. I admit it - I'm a fair-weather barefooter.

 

Agree 100%. Sad isn't it.

 

Looking at your name I'm guessing you're from Kentucky originally. Is that correct? So am I originally. That probably explains my love of being barefoot (LOL!!).

 

A few months ago I saw a kid about 10 or 11 barefoot in a grocery store with 2 of his friends. His friends both had flip flops on.

 

I don't see many other barefooters, but one of the most interesting sightings I had was in a state park near my home. I frequently hike there with my dogs and had never seen anyone else barefoot until earlier this year. I was walking along and came across an 8–10 year old boy and a man I assumed was his father. The boy was barefoot and wasn't carrying any shoes. Oddly enough, they were sitting on the trial while the father pulled something out of the boy's hand (not foot). I passed them again on the loop back and they were with other people that I took to be a family. The boy's feet looked like he used them to walk barefoot frequently. I thought it was interesting that although his family didn't join him, they allowed him to be bare foot.

 

On another note, I've seen two guys in Walmart barefoot this year. I'm in there barefoot so regularly, I think all the employees know me and my barefooting ways (small town). However, I'd only seen one other person barefoot there until this year.

One day I came in on a weekend and saw a guy that looked like he was dressed for a trip to the nearby lake. He was probably picking something up for his lake outing.

Another day, I was walking through the store past the entrance when a few teenagers came in. One of the boys was barefoot. He saw me and we exchanged the slight head nod of acknowledgment. Either he'll be more willing to go barefoot in the future or decide he doesn't want to look like that old middle-aged guy he saw in the store. At least it's good to see other barefooters.

 

I saw a girl walking barefoot down the street other day, quite surprising as its getting into winter here now in England, she obviously didnt feel the cold.

 

Great that you saw someone as it's a rare sight now. Though this year I am determined to keep going bf myself for as long as possible.

 

I saw a barefoot girl in Asda (wal-mart) last week, no shoes in sight.

 

I regularly see people barefoot at church. One of our pastors is frequently barefoot and his children are almost always barefoot during the warmer months. There is a young man in his early 20s who was usually barefoot, but he has recently moved out of the area. A few other young teens are occasionally barefoot. I've never heard a single comment about it. Positive or negative. It's a non-issue. Yet, for some reason, I haven't had the guts to barefoot there, except for kicking off my sandals in the pew.

 

One thing that has really started to bother me when I'm strolling barefoot around the city is the number of people who think it's OK to spit on the sidewalk. They make no effort to spit into an empty bottle or trash receptacle. These people seem to know better then to urinate in public, but spitting is somehow OK. Has anyone else in this forum experienced this problem? Have you ever confronted the guilty party? I'm truly at my wits end with the issue.

 

I agree. I find that disgusting whether I'm barefoot or not. I don't think I've ever spat on a sidewalk, or anywhere else in public for that matter. At one time it was illegal and might still be, but it's never enforced. That goes back to the tuberculosis outbreak decades ago and trying to contain the spread. Legislation was put in place in many communities making spitting on a sidewalk a ticketable offense.

No, I've never confronted the offending party. There are so many boorish people in this world who commit offensive acts. Another one that just ticks me to no end is people who toss cigarettes on the sidewalk or out their car window. Apparently they think the world is their trash can.

 

One of the singers on the x factor here in the uk performed her song barefoot, which i thought was cool

 

I got the following story from another barefoot forum. Running barefoot is definitely better for you than running in [stinky] shoes!

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/nov/08/barefoot-runner-hits-stride/

 

I've always wondered what's so bad about a bit of spittle. It's almost all water, it'll dry up in no-time. To me it's no more dirty than bird poo or anything like that, we don't complain about birds flying around above our sidewalks do we?
Not that I've ever spit anywhere -don't really understand the need either, don't folks get a dry throat if they spit a lot?- but I am not grossed out by spitting on the ground. Well unless it is spit from chew because it stains and contains bits!

Spitting can't be compared with littering cigarette butts either, a cig butt -especially with filter- takes a *long* time to decompose, while spit dries in anywhere from minutes to maybe an hour, depending on local weather and rinses away completely with the next rain (okay, I live in a rainy country, often that's within minutes ).

 

It is not so warm to day, around 15 degrees, so I thought I would be the only person in bare feet on the street. Imagine my delight to see two VERY attractive teenage girls in short denim cut-offs and bare feet walk past me. Their soles were black, and they had no problem with the coarse surface as they crossed the street right in front of me.

 

I'm assuming that's 15 deg C which is 59 deg F. Yeah, for me that's "in range" for bare feet, but certainly not toasty. Cool!! Where are you located? Just curious. Northern hemisphere - onset of winter. Southern hemisphere - onset of summer!!

 

Southern Hemisphere - New Zealand. Hopefully summer soon!

 

I figure this might be the best thread to post this. A few interesting barefoot experiences by others.

This morning I was riding the shuttle from the parking lot to the Denver Airport. Two women commented how cool my Vibram Fivefingers looked. They were really into them! Anyhow, the one woman commented about how she loved to go barefoot and was into barefoot rock climbing! Okay, I've heard of it before, but I've never known anyone to actually do it. She went on to say she grew up in the mountains, was constantly barefoot, and it just seemed natural to make the transition from hiking barefoot to going up steep slopes to bouldering to barefoot rock climbing. I asked her if she did very difficult climbs. She said she has her limits - and has four kids at home she needs to care for! She seemed a bit embarassed talking about her barefoot ways, but it was easy to tell she was into it. I told her I normally go barefoot and she seemed to identify with that.

Here's a video I found showing a barefoot rock climber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqqMg0n9M7g

Later today I was in O'Hare Airport waiting for a connection. I was working on my laptop when a woman just started talking to me. She'd seen my Vibram's and wanted to know all about them. She was going on about how much she loves to go barefoot and the Vibram's seemed perfect for her. I told her I was wearing them because it's cold and that I'd normally be barefoot. She thought that was pretty cool. Anyhow, she wanted to know where I got the Vibram's. I showed her the website and the link to find local retail stores. About this time another person joined in the conversation and was also into going barefoot. She wanted the info as well. Neither blinked when I told them how much they cost and actually seemed to think the price was reasonable.

I was thinking about some past experiences and came up with the following. Years ago I worked at the Savannah River Plant in South Carolina. It's a Department of Energy site that used to make weapons-grade plutonium. It's now predominantly a waste treatment facility. Anyhow, there was one woman who walked around barefoot constantly in the office area of the plutonium-uranium separations facility. It seemed a bit out of the ordinary in a professional environment, but nobody seemed to care. Maybe the management figured her barefoot ways were reassuring to anyone concerned about the safety of the facility!

Just a few indications there are lots of us out there. Some are just more open about their dislike of shoes and their preference for going barefoot than others!