1001 place NOT to be barefoot...

Places I've been kicked out of:

Believe it or not, a bookstore with soft carpet on the floor. The manager said it was a rule because they have an attached coffee shop.

No employees said anything, but several other visitors gave me hell last summer for walking barefoot in a PUBLIC PARK! One asked me if I had a pain fetish.

 

Places I wouldn't go barefoot:

Any part of the French Quarter of New Orleans, due to horse shit from carriages and puke from the drunks, mixed together with stagnant rainwater and spilled beer. I won't even wear sandals on Bourbon Street.

 

Geez, whatever happened to the good ol' days of going to the park, kicking off your shoes, and throwing Frisbees? I thought bare feet in a public park was as common as skates at an ice rink!

 

i must respond to this because i am a barefooter, who has lived in the french quarter in new orleans since 1988. you follow the rules of every barefooter, does you just watch where you walk. the only thing that keeps me in shoes, is that horrible little thing called "work".

 

I don't know what is up with these people. I've been in Winston-Salem for two years now, and have NEVER seen anyone else barefoot downtown, or in Tanglewood Park, or in any kind of a store.

 

I think I've mentioned it elsewhere, but I don't see many people barefoot around where I live in Colorado either. Typically I cross paths with a barefoot person in a shop or somewhere about once/year (not counting people who kick off their flip-flops at baseball games, pools, etc. Rather, I'm talking about people dedicated to being barefoot in public). Nonetheless, when I'm out barefoot, I VERY rarely get any negative comments. In fact, if I get any comments they're usually pretty cheery!

P.S. It seems to me that a lot of people even wear shoes/flip-flops around and even IN swimming pools anymore. What's with that?

 

Also, on the soft, sandy beaches of NC and SC. Twenty years ago, this was never seen.

If they are that damn paranoid about stepping on something, why not wear a rubber wet suit with gloves and a face mask? Jellyfish don't usually go for your feet. How about a medieval suit of armor to protect against sharks?

Have these people ever given any thought to how our ancestors survived? How long was the human race around before shoes were invented?

Just going back a couple generations in the American South, it was common in working-class families for kids to get their shoes confiscated every year during summer vacation from school, to save money. Only dress shoes were made available to them, for church on Sunday. My father had this childhood experience, and did not remember anyone he knew having a serious injury result.

 

I agree. Don't get me wrong; I love The Quarter, but not for any of the reasons that we talk about in this forum. ;-)

The first seven blocks of Bourbon Street are by far the nastiest in the FQ, partly because the police horses are greater polluters than the carriage drivers that allow their horses' diapers to run over. The worst part is that sometimes the crowd there is so dense that they completely control where you have to walk.

On the other hand, following the river all the way from the Moonwalk at Jackson Square to the Riverwalk is an almost perfect barefoot route; as clean, smooth, and interesting as you are likely to ever find in a big city.

 

It makes sense for people who're planning to put closed shoes back on after their swim, and keeping those on for the rest of the day. That is, after all, how athlete's foot spreads. The spores live and spread in places with damp, warm floors, get onto the skin of the foot, and when that foot is put into an incubator -eh, a closed shoe I mean- the spores grow. When we stay barefoot, or at least allow your feet to breathe in sandals or flipflops, we're pretty safe from athlete's foot, but for those who like to wear closed footwear outside it's not that silly to take other preventative measures against it, like keeping their feet off the floors completely.

 

as a french quarter resident, i rarely walk down the tourist path/trap you mention (the first 7 blocks of bourbon street). i avoid it at all costs, primarily because of all the tourists. the riverwalk, woldenberg park, jackson square, moonwalk & the levee along the river a perfect barefoot paths.

 

the humane society...

 

we've got barefooters in greensboro!

 

10 countries (sorry, couldn't find the full list) in tropical Africa, Central America and northwest India, where clay soils rich in colloidal silica particle coexist with high altitude and high seasonal rainfall.

At least not for extended periods of time

 

Or here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antartica

 

Gee, weez... For the first few moments I though that that was an article for North Dakota! At least the locations with the silica soil are tropical!

 

I'm assuming you mean Greensboro, NC? I was just there. I didn't see any other people barefoot, but I did see lots of flip-flops. As for myself, when I wasn't doing the work think, I went about life in my bare feet as normal. To Greensboro's credit, I got absolutely no comments about my naked feet. On the other hand, I did notice a few downward stares. I stopped in a couple of stores, dropped in a sub-shop, and went about my business in the hotel. I didn't have the same sense of acceptance/tolerance that I had in Baton Rouge, but whenever I can "do my thing" barefoot without any negative reprecussions, I figure it's a good experience!

 

i took this picture over at the recycling place.

 

I grew up in Phoenix. The police would come to our school and fry eggs on the sidewalk to teach us not to walk barefoot outside. You could easily hurt yourself unless you have some sole thick calluses.

 

I expect to be facing a similar challenge when I get out to Kuwait in August (why does it have to be August? - couldn't they have had me out there back in March so I could get used to the heat gradually?). I imagine I'll probably not to go barefoot immediately there even though I've been doing my best to prepare my feet as far as I can in Britain's mild climate. They are as tough as they've ever been but I don't think that'll quite be tough enough straight away. I really hope though that from October onwards when the worst of the heat is gone, I'll be able to go barefoot enough to be tough enough to cope with the summer the following year. If not, well it'll be the summer holidays and my contract includes a return flight once a year, so I'll probably take it then to go to a country with more barefoot friendly summer weather.

 

Shoveling snow!

It was 2 deg F (-17 deg C) yesterday when I was shoveling snow wearing my hiking boots and socks. Never once did I think "Geez, this would sure feel good if I was barefoot"!

(Went down to -17 deg F (-27 deg C) at the Denver Airport last night. It hit -8 deg F (-22 deg C) by my house. Only ~3 months till the spring thaw!! And it's even more "special" in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota,...)