Scary Encounter

Hey guys n gals I saw something really freaky today when I went shopping at the mall. I was outside of the mall and they had like these 3 guys I think it was sitting on the planters out there surrounded by 2-3 security guards and it looked like they had done something criminal or like it was some sort of police investigation.

Anyways one of the guys was shirtless and possibly barefoot and theyve got this NS3 rule there and the security guards were chewing the guy out for being shirtless/barefoot because apperantly one of the "tenants" complained about this guy and I beleive they walked him outside and surrounded him and gave him this whole bloody speech about what he did and how bad it was cuz he broke the rules n all.

I didnt hear it all but like it was scary because they were chewing this guy out for doing something harmless and they were treating him like a petty criminal. Also it makes me wonder why they needed 3 security guards just for this one guy and his friends. The guy ended up putting a shirt on and he looked really bummed out and I think he ended up giving in to their demands. It was just a scary sight and since it was related to barefootin/shirtlessness i thought id bring it up here. Makes me not wanna go shirtless/barefoot there ever.

 

This is what I was trying to tell you about. It doesn't matter if it's a kindergarten girl getting handcuffed or someone else getting cuffed for going shirtless. This is what America is turning into.

 

"So, why do you barefoot people make such a big deal about going around barefoot??"


Because of fascist assholes like the ones in this story who won't let us live our own way, when we're harming no one. Is it clearer to anyone now? If we weren't hassled all the time for bullshit reasons, we wouldn't have to band together.

-Jeffrey

 

sorry, I wouldnt want to be in a restaurant trying to eat, when some dude next to me chooses not to have a shirt or shoes on...... thats just tasteless.

 

Two points... first of all, about the shoes... does the tiny strap of a flipflop truely make such a great difference to you? You still see 99% of the foot? And what about girls who came in with high heels/tight shoes and slip them off under the table?

Second, I'm sorry you don't like it, but other people don't like some other things. I personally HATE wetlook gel. It doesn't look wet, it looks greasy. So greasy it would probably put me off my food if I were to give it too much thought, and I'm glad it isn't so popular anymore. BUT I would NEVER demand anyone who uses it to leave the restaurant, wash it out, or sit elsewhere. It is 100% MY problem that I don't like it, and I also know fully well it isn't going to really hurt me... it's not going to jump off his (or her, although I rarely see gals with it) head and onto my food. Any more than any dirt, skin flakes or bacteria will jump off a barefoot person (or a shirtless person) will. More, if any other customer, or the manager himself, were to demand someone who used wetlook gel leave his restaurant, I would stop MY dinner to defend him, and I would almost certainly leave if he gets kicked out. Freedom of dress, as long as it doesn't *directly and physically* harm anyone, is FAR more important than my personal opinion of any outfit or hairdo.

 

I really hate going out to eat when the people next to me have on gross shoes, that stink like the devils ass, and are 3,000% more dirty, and cary 3,765,432 more germs than my barefeet. I wash my barefeet at the least twice a day, sometimes more. How many times do you shoe loving folk wash your shoes?

Yep, dirty sweaty rubber, and leather, and mesh shoes are much more tollerating than natural barefeet.

Do you also realize that your feet is made from the same skin that is on your bare hands that you eat with? Oh that's right, hands are cleaner than feet right?

WRONG.

How many things do you touch with your hands that other people have touched with their hands after picking their noses, and wiping their butts, and sucking their thumbs have touched? probably more than your feet have. Also, your barefeet are on the ground. I am sure we all realize that the gound is dirty. So does that mean that it's unsanitary to eat at any restaurant that has a ground?

Hmmm.


This is ponderous... Really Ponderous.


Oh yeah, sorry about the semi-off topic rant,
but it's the truth... it's an outrage.

 

You would be free to leave such an establishment at any time.

Seriously, I've always thought it would be funny if the shoe was on the other foot for a change (err, well that's a horrible analogy for us! ), and we were able to complain to management that we found it disgusting that everyone else in a restaurant was wearing "filthy" shoes and that they immediately take action to correct the situation.

I've always wanted to try a sociological experiement - get a large group of people (like at least 50) to agree to go into a restaurant or a store, ALL of them barefoot at the exact same time of day. Just to see what would happen.

 

Then dont look at him and just concentrate on your meal. I see people in food places dressed sloppy all of the time but I dont let it bother me and I dont waste my time telling anyone how much I want them to leave I simply ignore them and get done whatever it is im doing, which is usually eating.

 

i dont see the problem with barefeet. if you dont like them then dont look at them. look at some of the "designer" shoes out there that are soooooo hideous i cant belive people wear them. think of what somepeople walk in... dog poo... and they dont know it, i were barefoot and i walked in it i would know and wash it off, think about it. barefeet are more sanitary ithink

 

This is off topic, but madcrappie...you have the COOLEST avatar I have ever seen!

 

I swear this must be an L.A. thing. I just can't believe how many times I've been confronted in L.A. for being barefoot. When I lived in Northern Cal for 18 years I only got asked twice to wear shoes, and those people had just moved there from L.A. Here in L.A. I get tormented by every other person about my bare feet. Just today in fact I got yelled at by some restaurant owner and was asked to leave. He literally told me that "it's the rule in every restaurant in L.A.", which is of course completely bogus, but he made an interesting point. Something about this city causes almost everyone to obsess about following stupid rules. I've also noticed how most people here don't know how to have fun either. They're all so caught up in their petty concerns for financial status, cars, and high heels. Any little thing that deviates from the yuppie magazine model image and you're considered a danger to society. This is a truly messed up place, and I can't wait to move the hell out of here.

In a way, the confrontations I have here with people only make me want to challenge them further. I'm curious to know what makes people here so uptight, hostile, and confrontational. Is it because they themselves have been victimized by hostility and rudeness so many times that it rubbed off on them? This may be true because every time someone in a car blows their horns at me I want to run them off the road. In 18 years of driving in Northern Cal I never got honked at, not even once. Now I get honked at several times a day, and for no other reason than being a safe driver (zero accidents in 20 years of driving). I think most people in L.A. get into car accidents every few years, mostly because they are pressured by all the impatient drivers. Anyway, I'm getting out of here before I become affected by all this madness.

 

Maybe sometimes you just need to do whatever it is youre gonna do and if people confront you and try to intimidate you then you just be that much intimidating back to them and show them that youre not scared of them and not gonna put up with their crap. Imean its one thing to run a business the way you wanna run it but that doesnt mean that the person needs to be an ass about it. Somebodys gotta stand up to em.

 

Yeah, but that's kinda my point about how the confrontational attitudes and hostility just spreads like a disease. Personally I don't want to become infected by it. Anyway, I just tell them that I'm not from L.A. and try to educate them about how different life is in other places in California; how there are places where people don't care about petty things like bare feet in restaurants and where people actually behave in a mature, polite manner. When they try to give me the health code crap I tell them that I've researched the health laws and found that there is no federal or state law prohibiting bare feet in restaurants, and that my research has been confirmed by other people seeking the same truths.

 

It is an L.A. thing! Especially in Hollywood - L.A. proper. I grew up here, living in the South Bay area (Manhattan Beach, Hermosa, etc.) where it was commonplace to never wear shoes. I wore shoes to high school maybe 1 month out of the year, the rest of the time going barefoot or wearing slippers of some kind (which never made it all day). Most of my friends were barefoot as well. You get into Hollywood/West Hollywood, L.A., people are aghast at seeing you without shoes. The most punk rock thing you could do is walk down Melrose, in and out of the stores, in bright pink hair, spikey bracelets, offensive clothing, have a total attitude and no shoes, and people will only comment on your shoes. I wear many toe rings as well, so I get it twice as bad. That's where my "don't give a sh*t" attitude kicks in. I work with many musicians and on stage is pretty much the only acceptable place in Hollywood to wear no shoes. It sucks, but I do my part and have done places like Key Club, Viper and Spaceland barefoot. It's fun - except for when you step in spilled beer.

 

Thats why I would steer clear of the Hollywood/LA area because most of those people there are just stuck up and self absorbed and dont seem to think that anything should ever bother them because they feel like they got the right not to be offended. Yet they think they can go around and be as vicious and offensive as they want and they totally think its okay and dont give a rip. I wanna live somewhere I can go barefoot and shirtless just about anywhere I want to and nobody will give a rip. Im not out to offend people, im just out to be myself and be comfortable and have a good time.

 

Yeah, somehow LA is a place where people seem afraid of breaking the law, afraid of breaking any rules, afraid of lawsuits, risks, and liabilities, afraid of other people, offended by almost anything, protective of their material possessions, and where cops and the shoe-police are powerful and abusive. It's a weird and nightmarish place, full of racial tensions, pollution, freeway shootings and white collar crime, yet so many people stay here and the cost of living is so ridiculously high. I needed to get a half-million dollar loan just to buy a tiny cramped condo in this post-apocalyptic trashy gang-ridden ghetto where I can't go anywhere barefoot and where people are rude, alienating, and obnoxious. Anyway, I read a recent newspaper article saying that over 1/3 of L.A.'s population is planning to move out within the next 5 years. I'm stuck here, however, unless I quit my job and go back to being homeless. But I'd almost rather be homeless in good company or in nature than to put up with this virtual prison sentence of cubicles, fluorescent lights, superficial and prejudiced social perspectives, noise, concrete, and exhaust fumes. I feel like years of my life are passing by me as I deny that I'm acually living here.

 

you should try going to my school man, a few of us were outside playing acoustic guitar at lunch and i was barefoot, all these guys came up and started hassling me, i kept telling them to accept that i dont like shoes, but they kept trying to stand on my feet, at least 5 times a day i get made fun of for not wearing socks when school force me to wear shoes.

 

Wow, that is awful. Someone should conduct a socio-psychological study to find out what causes people to royally freak out about bare feet under some circumstances, and not care a hoot in other circumstances. While in college in Northern Cal I went barefoot everywhere- restaurants, classes, etc. and nobody said a word nor even looked at my feet, unless they were making a compliment.

 

I dont mind people being afraid of all this stuff but it gets annoying when they take that fear and make it a problem for me by imposing all these silly rules on me just because theyre worried about their ass getting in trouble. Im not gonna do anything thatd get them in trouble in the first place and I would never sue anybody even if something did happen to me unless it was obviously beyond a doubt their fault so nobody has nothing to worry about with me. I think people just need to keep their fears to themselves and deal with them and stop messin with everybody else's business and lives.

These people probably just have lived there so long and know everybody so much and are so used to things that they dont wanna risk moving somewhere else they dont know and starting over so dispite all the problems they have they just suck it in and stick around. Thats a bad thing to do sometimes seeing as how bad that area has gotten. Id rather get used to some new surroundings than risk being shot.

Thats why I wouldnt wanna live there, the high costs and risk to life and limb are just not worth it. I cant stand all the obnoxious people either, especially the illegal aliens who have no business being there and I shouldnt have to deal with considering im here legally.

I dont blame them. Id help pack their bags for half of em if they wanted me to and id probably end up joinin them if it wasnt for me still goin to school and living with my parents.

Maybe being homeless is better than being dead or ridiculed just for trying to be comfortable.

 

Id simply tell them to worry about their own feet and not fuss over mine so much. Its not theirs or anyone else's business what I put on my feet or not. If anything happens to me ebcause of what I chose to wear or not wear down there then its my fault if something happens not theirs.