A right of passage for barefooters everywhere

Last night while strolling barefoot to one of my wattering holes, I stopped outside the establishment to put my sandals on. As I surched franticly through my duffle bag, I quickly realized they were not there. The last stop I made before the bar was at a public restroom where I put them on when I went in and quickly took them off and put them back in the bag when I came out. Needless to say, I never secured the bag and my sandals must have got lost in transition. I tried to trace my steps and strolled barefoot back to the public restroom, but my sandals were nowhere to be found. Yours truly had to take the subway and a bus home and needless to say, my feet had a beautiful jet black color to them that I have to owe to losing my sandals. For me, I tend to go off the deep end when I lose something. But this time by losing my footwear, it felt like I finally reached a right of passage amongst barefooters everywhere. Of course I'm going to go back to that area in the next hour or so and see if my sandals have resurfaced.

 

Yeah barefooting in the city gets your feet some funky colors! It's good for Boston though to have more barefooters around. I never see anyone else :-(

 

x

 

I sincerely hope that your post is merely a joke.

If it is, please ignore the following.

If not, please spend some time reading through the threads here (This thread in particular gives some very good answers to the question of "why go barefoot") and also spend some time at the Society for Barefoot Living and come to an understanding regarding the facts of living barefoot.

Just for fun, I'll address your concerns one at a time:

1. "...you could burn yourself": Long-term barefooters can withstand significantly high temperatures without injury. Please refer to this thread for some clear research on this issure.
2. "...(you could) get cut": Long-term barfooters have extremely tough soles which can withstand walking over very sharp objects without injury. I hike over razor coral here with no problems and do demonstrations walking over broken glass and nails without injury.
3. "...(you could) get infections": After fourteen years of continuous barefooting all over the world, including Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Micronesia, Europe and yes, even the mainland US, I've yet to have any problems.
   
   In tropical climes, you're actually much more prone to infections such as jungle rot as a result of wearing shoes. Barefooters have much healthier feet in general, as well as better posture, fewer back problems and far fewer foot health problems compared to shoddies.
4. "(you could) get foot herps (sic)": Please do a little bit of research before making spurious claims. Again if it's a joke, my appologies, but there is simply no such thing as "foot herpes".

For the OP, congratulations on your "right of passage"! The black will easily wash off and you'll be tougher and ready to take on the city. There are so many great textures in cities that shoddies miss out on: escalators, grates, huge varieties of concrete and asphalt, various outdoor carpet types, etc...

Losing your zorries is probably the best thing that could have happened to you! Keep 'em bare bro!

 

I was joking, hah. I'm not a dumbass. I know there's no "foot herpes". But thanks for answering all my questions!

 

I certainly never meant to imply that you were a "dumbass", but I've run across folks who actually believe much as you posted. Perhaps a few smilies next time to accompany the joke will spare us all from the knee-jerk reactionary tendencies of overzealous barefoot fanatics.

You're welcome, BTW, for the answers! Keeps me in shape for when I need to straighten out the misconceptions of some poor beknighted shoddie...

 

I lost my flip-flops at a grocery store once. Usually, I put them on to go inside, just to avoid trouble. I take them off when I leave and put them on the lower rack of the cart. I must have forgotten to retrieve them last time, and I drove away without them.

I don't think I'll buy another pair. I have to walk different just to keep them on my feet anyway. Lesson learned. (Maybe I should just go barefoot into the store anyhow.)

 

dont go back for them!! not owning a pair of shoes, for me, is wonderful.
so much freedom.
peace