Others Barefoot in Public?

Nothing quite like dirty Xmas feet!

 

Originally posted by:FreshDacre: so i ended up being that dude that is barefoot.
It is pretty gross doing it on streets and stuff so im going to put in more of an effort to not be as lazy lol.
On the plus side, I live in santa cruz, so its considered normal either way lol.

Going barefoot out on the streets is the cool part! Don't stop dude!

 

Do you know what people do to the streets? Not only do they piss and shit on the ground, they sprinkle meth on the ground and put out cigs on the ground and spread their aids on the ground too. Theoretically, everything you step in with bare feet goes directly into your bloodstream.
If i'm going to go barefoot, its going to be around my property where i know what has happened there, or mabey in the forest where i know people don't go.

 

I agree it is not good to step in shit, blood or on needles. I watch where I am going and there is actually little of that where I go barefoot. The thick skin of your feet prevents most things from being absorbed - but no one should step in chemicals or blood.

 

I would respectfully suggest that you endeavor to educate yourself regarding these issues before promulgating popular myths and urban legends. Two good resources to start with are the society for barefoot living and the CDC.

 

Right on! I managed to get my soles dirty enough from walking at the park on Christmas in the afternoon. Not very many people at the park that day, which was what I expected.

 

Well, I have put together theories in my head, whether or not i am right or whatever i will stick to it, its who i am. Why not wear shoes? The only thing i can think of if i was lazy and don't have time, but shoes are very useful. They help you run faster, you don't have to worry about what you are stepping in unless its poop (which would still be much worse without shoes) Not to mention, you seem much more of a "cleaner" person with shoes. If people see somebdy barefoot they might think right away "that guy probably smells like feet".
Do you guys go barefeet just to say "hey i'm a barefooter, i'm more in touch witht the world than you"?
You really have to weigh the benefits.
My biggest problem with being barefoot, is that you can't snowboard barefoot. Snowboarding IS my favorite thing to do.

 

And I'd certainly not wish to challenge your identity, just some of your assumptions.

I think all of the regular contributors to this forum have expressed their reasons; they're a few common ones, such as feeling free, comfort, musculo-skeletal health, and aesthetics, but everyone has their own reasons. I always like to use the analogy of wearing boxing gloves every day, as I find direct interaction with my environment very important, and use my feet as well as my hands for everyday tasks.

And certainly there are a few barefooters that started this way.

Actually, there have been Olympic medalists who compete barefoot. As far as stepping in (or on) things, experienced barefooters know how to avoid them subconsciously. Do a search for "fox walking"; you'll find a wealth of information about the techniques employed by full-time barefooters to avoid hazards while building critical muscle groups, awareness of environment and mental acuity through focused attention.

Social perceptions of bare feet vary greatly. In the US, it's often equated with poverty; in Asia, they're more frequently associated with asceticism; in certain situations in Europe and South/Central America, including Mexico, they're associated with spirituality. If you were to see me in a meeting with high government officials in business clothing and bare feet, "dirty" would not likely come to mind.

The funny thing is that smell comes from shoes. The feet of full-time barefooters never smell.

No more than I'd say, "I'm wealthy, so I'm smarter than you". Both statements are patently untrue, as the correlation is plain silly. Please see my previous comments regarding reasons to go barefoot.

Precisely. Before doing so, however, you must understand the benefits; they're likely more numerous and significant than you think.

The benefits of barefooting are really numerous and an experienced full-time barefooter can easily navigate in environments that seem impossible to those who have never tried it. (See posts regarding snowfooting and my own posts about hiking over razor coral). That said, I prefer my SPD sandals while mountain biking and although if I never see snow, I'll be a happy man, I agree that snowboarding barefoot would be a bit of a challenge.

 

Here's to hoping you get lazy and run out of time soon!

It's a lot easier to get poop (or anything, really) off a bare foot than a shoe. I don't know how many times I've had to scrape the little tracks after mowing the lawn with shoes on.

Shoes do have some good uses, like allowing me to keep warm in single digit temperatures. I concede that.

No. I do it to protest the sole arches that give me pains pretty much at the center of my foot around the arch support area. Also to be lazy, nonconformist., and more comfortable.

You don't have to snowboard barefoot unless you want to. You can be a fair-weather barefooter (or any sort of barefooter) here and still consider yourself a barefooter.

 

If I lived in a neighborhood where people had so much meth that they spread it on the ground, I think what I step in would be the least of my problems.

and

Only in your private theories. Our skin is the largest organ of our bodies and one of its important functions is keeping the right things in and the wrong things out. Sure, things can be absorbed by the skin but it is absolutely untrue that everything that gets on our skin enters our bloodstream (regardless of whether we step on it with our feet, touch it with our hands, or sit on it when we have much more skin bared in summer). Our skin does a very good job of protecting us. Even injuries are quickly repaired and any invaders that did make it through are fought off by our immune system, another one of those nifty systems we have. Fortunately our body is a whole lot stronger and better protected than you seem to believe.

Why not look up information that may change your theories? You like sticking to your theories, I like going barefoot.

I run faster without shoes, and I stopped worrying what I might step on many years ago, I've learned to trust my skin and feet. Dog poo is not worse stepping into barefoot; if you've ever had to pick it out of the deep threads of some walking shoes, or tried to clean it off light-colored suede shoes, you'd know what I mean Not to mention when people wearing shoes may not notice it until they've tracked it all through the house; personal opinions may vary but I much rather wash it off my bare skin than off a pair of sneakers, *and* the door mat, *and* the carpet... Maybe it helps I have worked with animals in the past so I'm not as grossed out with getting a bit of poo on my skin in the first place, I am sure some people (mostly cityfolks) would rather steam-clean their entire house than getting even a little on their bare feet.

I don't care what other people think. Public opinion in my country is much less negative than in the US (more of a 'health freak' thing than a 'gross or dangerous' thing, even though the 'weird' factor is pretty high even here) but even if it was, I wouldn't wear shoes because of other people's misconceptions.

I go barefoot for myself, because it feels good, because it's fun, because it's healthy. I don't go barefoot to make a statement, in fact I rarely if ever bring it up, I only talk about it when other people address me first.

That's a silly reason, like if you want to go barefoot you can never, ever, for any reason, wear shoes again. I personally pretty much decided to do that, but I have no hobbies like snowboarding, ice skating, roller blading etc which require footwear. If you've looked around at all on this forum you see many folks here wear shoes part of the time, no one is telling you you have to go for 100% barefoot or 100% shod.

 

How would that be different with sandals?

 

People such as FreshDacre come around now and again. I recommend just ignoring the comments. The more we feed the controversy, the more people such as FreshDacre continue to post. FreshDacre is just trying to stir things up. There's another person named Grim and a few others who have passed through these parts. Looking at their history of posts, they rarely if ever post anything constructive; it's just crap no matter what the topic. If this forum was "Why I Really Love to Wear Shoes," I have little doubt FreshDacre and others would be expounding the virtues of bare feet.

 

^^thanks. Actually I am just genuinely curious about what you guys had to say about what I was saying. You guys definately gave me alot to think about mabey i will reply more later but I have to leave to go snowboarding right now.
One thing, I do not live in the city, and, I think it would be horrendous to step in poo without shoes. I would probably gag alot. I do believe it has happened to me before too.

 

January 22nd and I saw my first barefoot person in public today. I passed a high school near my house and there was a female student waiting to cross the street - barefoot!! Okay, she was carrying shoes, but I would have too - it was well below freezing this morning but hit ~50 deg F in the afternoon (~10 deg C).

 

Hi, I live in MA and I love to go barefoot around the town in warm weather. I am usually the only person doing it. Barefooting oudoors, except for at the beach, is extremely rare in southern New England. Once in a while, I do get rude comments. One man said I was nuts for doing it. Another guy yelled out of his car window, "Put some shoes on, you disgusting pig". I ignore these comments and just remind myself that it's not against the law to be barefooot.

 

Well, I don't personally know these barefoot guys, but this picture was in Facebook. The occasion was the grand opening of a Chick Fil-A restaurant:



Looks like they're having a fun time!

 

I saw a kid coming back from a local swimming pool. I thought he was barefoot. But nobody does that any more! He's gotta be wearing... NO! He was barefoot!

 

I was driving home today and saw three teens cross the street. The guy was wearing sneakers, one girl was wearing flip-flops, and the other girl was blissfully walking along the sidewalk barefoot! That's only my second sighting of someone else barefoot in public this year, but the weather's just now warming up.

 

Yesterday afternoon I went to the barber for a haircut (the barber shop is located in a corner strip mall with a liquor store, soft serve yogurt retailer, dry cleaners, Starbucks, etc). When I was done, I walked out the door to go to my car. On my way there, I looked behind me and there was this guy (looked to be in his 30s) a little distance behind me walking in the same direction, and he was barefoot. He was carrying a plastic bag with him which he dumped in a nearby trash can. As I drove away, I saw that he was walking back in the direction from where he came. I thought seeing another barefooter in public was pretty cool!

 

On Saturday, when I went on my barefoot weekend shopping trip to two different malls in neighboring cities, I spotted only one barefoot person - sadly, I was sitting in the tram, and she was outside, walking barefoot on the sidewalk, carrying her sandals in her hand... even though she was shod previously, it was nice to see at least one other person sharing the happiness of baring one's soles to the ground with me...

Fashion still dictates people to wear at least flip-flops or thin sandals on their feet... Although the weather has become niceley pre-summerly, other barefoot people are still very rare out there.

Wiggling toes in anticipation to meet and greet other barefooters in his town...

~*Ganesha*~