was i rude?

Aww that sux Pauly

Im sure something exciting will happen soon

And yep, Im in NC Alden, visiting people

 

Yeah, people eat in restaruants all the time with sandals, what is the difference if it's just feet? You can still see them. I don't see why it's a huge deal. It's not like barefoot is any grosser than what you can step in all day in your shoes anyway.

 

People are insecure. If more people were barefoot they wouldn't have a problem. But people with smelly disgusting feet ruined it for everyone else.

 

In flipflops you still see people's feet -do those tiny straps really make so much of a difference to you? And you even ad that shoes aren't always clean either... it's just a cultural thing that we *think* of bare feet as dirty and gross, but that's just a bias. I've been 100% barefoot for almost nine years now, and my feet are rarely really dirty. I mean there's dust on them sometimes, or a bit of sand, but nothing bad. On the other hand, about 12-18 years ago I worked in the horse business, and I frequenly wore boots that were not exactly clean. Okay, I changed when I went for an evening out but we stopped at stores and even restaurants on our way to this or that, just wearing our boots and barn clothes, innumerable times. Small towns in Colorado, no one said a thing, everyone went inside places like that... you stamped/wiped the worst off on the door mat but people didn't expect you to do anything beyond that, only in private homes did we take our boots off at the door. I moved away from that area after I stopped working the horses and before I started to go barefoot, so I have never tried it, but looking at the reports from the barefooters who currently live in the US, some of these same stores would probably have a problem if I came in in my bare feet, even if I came straight from home & the shower!

Fortunately the health department knows better, for anyone who doesn't frequent the 'bare it' forums; there are no state laws against bare feet, not in stores and not in restaurants either. It should count for something that while many regular managers may hold the same thought that bare feet are somehow unsanitary, the people who actually looked into the facts don't have a problem with it. (http://www.barefooters.org/health-dept)

Carrying around flipflops & wearing them only part of the time is *more* dirty; I'd have to handle them with my hands all the time putting them on and taking them off, while otherwise my hands don't come into contact with my feet or the ground in any way whatsoever. And of course with my *hands* I also handle the groceries I'm buying, the handlebar of the grocery cart or the shopping basket, etc... So I'd actually increase the chances of spreading dirt from the floor to places where it could possibly do harm!

That's exactly the kind of image many people have when they think of bare feet; someone kicking off their shoes (often exposing smelly feet -the sweaty smell is *not* the sweat itself but rather is produced when bacteria break down sweat in anaerobic circumstances, like happens inside a shoe) and putting them up on a table or something, indeed acting like they're at home or displaying a rude, careless attitude. Now when I go out in public my feet stay on the ground, where they belong. I don't put them in anyone's face. The dirt that's on the sole doesn't go anywhere any more than the dirt on the soles of someone's shoe. And sometimes there's even less dirt; wearing shoes, you can step in dog doo without noticing & track it in, has happened to almost everyone at one point or other... while a barefooter will notice and will thus be able to clean their feet before coming in.

 

I dont go barefoot in restaraunts...but i do everywhere else....i keep some flip flops in my truck in case i need them but dont carry them around with me.....It would not bother me if you were barefoot in a restaraunt if you were i would probably go in barefoot too....shoes suck....when i was a child my parents wouldnt make me wear shoes in a restaraunt and one time we went to dennys where they told me i had to wear shoes so my parents left adn have not eaten there in since.......peace.