Last summer I had a few barefofoot "adventures" with my girlfriend, and I came up with a few conclusions. The main one is that the majority of people seem to like it, it seems that they find it cool, whether they would do it themselves or not. For exemple, one time we were on a bus, from one place to another in Czech Republic, I was sitting next to a fancy dressed girl who costantly kept on looking at my bare feet. I admit they were quite dirty, I thought she was disgusted or something like that, but to my surprise when we were about to leave the bus she gave me a smile. Then I was surprised. A few days after we were on another bus for a longer ride. A girl was on the same bus, I had my flip flops on but and my girlfriend kept on going around barefoot, (rest stations, the rest room on the bus, roads at each and every stop and so on) and this girl later on told us that she considered my girlfriend to be really cool and we also got to know her better because of that, even if at first she hadn't realized my gf was barefoot at all. To make a story short, it seems that being barefoot kinda helps in being liked by people. True, some of them seem to be very disgusted, in particolar way when they see you barefoot in public rest rooms, but on the overall I think you get lots of respect having no shoes on, which is something that really surprises me because according to my point of view being barefoot is one of the most natural things that you can possibly do. Probably our society is so artificial that it's enough though. Conclusion? We keep them bare!!!
I agree with your observations. In general, most people seem to think it's pretty cool that I'm comfortable going out barefoot. I really don't give it a second thought anymore. Sounds like your girlfriend is pretty cool about it as well. You might read my posting "Joining the Barefoot Lifestyle"; it's still on the first page of listings for this forum. I've had few negative experiences. Some people may find living barefoot humorous or odd, but tend to keep their thoughts to themselves. I think most are envious they don't have the self-confidence to do it themselves.
Over here in New Zealand we call them Jandals just a rubber sole with rubber straps from each side that meet between your toes very handy to carry in your bag or werever for that odd time you may need footwear
The OP is very lucky. People who have seen me barefoot laugh, make jokes or don't have the guts to tell me they disagree; instead they'll stare or mumble. But, I suppose it's because people on the East Coast are some of the most narrow-minded pigs I've ever dealt with.
I have been to the States and I believe people here in Europe are more open-minded in some way. Yet in the south it's not easy to live different.
I've lived in severl parts of the US and find people's tolerance, acceptane, and values to vary all over the place. There are good people everywhere, but regional sterotypes do exist. It's hard to change individual's opinions, so just chalk up what happened as a bad experience and go on about life. Personally, I just came back from a barefoot visit to a crowded Starbucks. No one (customers or employees) said a word about my feet. In shorts, my bare feet were openly exposed for everyone to see. I guess some people just choose to "live and let live."
It does seem to be an American thing, to my shame. But what I love about my country is because of its size, as others have mentioned, there are vast differences from region to region, and even neighborhood to neighborhood. This is much alike to the microclimates I must deal with in my work with growing plants. These local variations are real. Even in my one county I have major ranges as to how easy it is to be my free-spirited self. From the worst to the best! But in most cases, for some reason, it is more OK for me to show my tan legs in winter than my tan feet (and legs) in summer. Go figure. I'm just trying to make it easier for me for the rest of my life and for the younger generations to follow. And I just want to enjoy these pleasures, without offending anybody, (the control freaks.)
all in all this sounds so cool! but, the public bathroom thing for women may be different from mens. some men dont care if they piss all over and get it on the floor. and some times they manage to totally fook up the toilet and it over flows. if i had the balls to go barefoot (which im working on...getting bigger balls i mean.) i would totally keep flip flops in the car for pee breaks at public places.
Ha ha ha! I might be wrong, but I think this was a pun by Boogabaah... her feet haven't known any kind of footwear in more than a year, so she seems having even forgotten the word
