I Have Gone Barefoot To School

I would have been too shy to even think of doing that, but I wonder what the reaction would have been if I came to school wearing a pair of sandals which no boy ever did. Too late for that now.

 

I have always felt more comfortable being barefoot, and had quite a lot of time being barefoot while attending school.

In kindergarten class (age 5), I used to take my shoes and socks off quite often, and I'd sometimes try to get other kids to do the same. I can't remember if any of the other kids did take them off, but I remember myself playing barefoot around the classroom. But by the time I got to first grade, and we all had to sit at our own desks, I didn't do it anymore.

There were other times during elementary school when me and other kids would take off our shoes and socks during winter when we got snow in our shoes or boots, and we'd stay barefoot until it was time to go home. This was a small-town U.S. public school in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and I went barefoot a lot outside of school, too, like in my yard, riding my bike, or going to friend's houses down the street.

In middle school, after gym classes where we would have to take showers, I and some other boys often came out of the locker room barefoot, and then put our socks and shoes back on when we were out on the gym floor. I think it had something to do with trying to avoid getting athlete's foot, or plantar warts, or some other thing, I can't recall.

In college, I was barefoot about half the time when I was in the dorm, noticeably more so than other guys, but never had any negative comments about my doing so. A girl there once complimented me on my bare feet and said they looked cute But I always wore shoes to classes, though. I had a friend who'd barefoot to class sometimes when it was warm outside, and when I asked him once about it, he said he felt better that way

 

And have you ever dreamt of that? as for me, i have

 

Me too. Foot shyness sucks, you miss out of a lot of fun. Now I love people seeing my feet and toes.

 

Childhood is the best time to be barefoot. I have been far too foot shy as a kid to truly realize how awesome it was, and that it was very much worth getting into a bit of trouble if it also meant having an adventure in my bare feet. Worse yet, my parents actually seemed barefoot-friendly, so it was really only my own mental blockades that kept me from true happiness.

If any barefoot-curious kids are skimming these forums looking for guidance, my advice is that you use every opportunity possible to just be barefoot!