HA! it was 60 yesterday, and I chickened out!

It's been so long since I have gone into a store barefoot, so I figured I'd take advantage of the nice weather yesterday. Drove to the dollar store.... confident all the way.... got there and stepped one bare foot outside the car and....... chickened out!!!! I just left rather than go in there and get what I needed with shoes on. Strange how at least with me, it's always hard the first few times of the season. after that it's much easier. Last year I'd go barefoot in super walmart in the middle of the day and never bat an eye!

 

I'm the same way. I know being barefoot in public is a bit outside the social norms, so the first few times each year are a challenge. My pasty white legs in shorts don't help either (I'm as adamant about wearing shorts as I am about not wearing shoes). My first time out this year was to a Starbucks in January on a rare warm day. It felt good, but was also awkward. Not only was I self-conscious, but walking across the parking lot was a bit uncomfortable as my soles had softened during the winter. The weather got pretty cold again after that. Ths week's been warm and I've gone barefoot everywhere. My legs are still pasty and I'm still getting over the early-season jitters, but I force myself to do it. It won't be long and I'll have my summer confidence (and color!).

 

It probably won't be 60 here for another two months or so...

Current temp: -2F

Forecast low: -14F

Forecast high for tomorrow: 7F

Lame weather. Blech.

 

For the first time this year, today it hit 65 (F) in North Carolina. Man, those tiny bits of gravel on the sidewalk felt like boulders. I think that getting readjusted every spring gets harder as you get older.

Got a small blister too. The forecast calls for three days of cold rain followed by snow flurries, so healing time won't be a problem. The wild weather changes are normal for here.

 

it has been in the mid 80's the last two days, back to normal over the weekend. why is that? beautiful when I'm working and the weekend gets here and suckass. oh,well.

 

Solution: don't stop going barefoot completely. Even if you live in a much colder climate, there are indoor malls, indoor events, there's always indoor places you can kick your shoes off for or even go barefoot to/from if you park closely. That way, there's no 'first time' every year! ;-)

 

last week it went up to 70.
didn't do it. There was still snow around so I thought everyone would be like WTF
because I'm a pussy liek that

 

That's not how it works in North Dakota. There will ALWAYS be a first time here because if you wear shoes that you can "slip off", you could still get frostbite in minutes some mornings, and that will last for weeks. In fact, we're still getting days like that once in a while and it's early March! Lately it has been in the 40's, but we're supposed to see teens for highs next week.

Luckily, I'll be in NYC!

 

Aren't there indoor malls? Don't they keep stores warm? Aren't there churches, restaurants, offices, parties, etc, etc in North Dakota? Read the message again, I said "...there are indoor malls, indoor events..." These may not do anything for getting some mileage in and keeping your soles toughened, but the problem was a social one. Taking off your shoes at the door (completely at the door, if even the few steps in the parking lot is too cold) will keep you 'trained' in a social manner, keep you used to being among others even in winter. This can be done in *any* climate, as long as you ever attend any social indoor event where it's warm enough to take your coat, gloves and hat off. The kind of shoe you have to wear to protect against the cold is irrelevant. Even if you're wearing heavy boots, they're not glued on, you can take *anything* off when you also peel off your other heavy outside clothing. Why should you only be able to 'slip out' of a light, thin shoe? (Edit: if you wear really big & clunky boots or shoes, that can even be used as an excuse to take them off! In many places it's more common for people to leave snow boots or work boots at the door than it is to take off other, lighter footwear )

 

It would be a lot easier if I was female. At least people don't get that freaked out if I go barefoot in the summer... It just seems tacky to come in and suddenly take my tennis shoes and socks off. You know what I mean? I know you're talking indoors, but it's just tacky to do that around here.

 

Oh, but it is considered quite tacky to go barefoot here, I get *many* looks and comments even in the midst of summer. If I cared about comments, I couldn't go barefoot in any season! The advantage the Dutch have over the US folks is that it's very rare to be removed from a store or to meet people who think it's illegal, but comments, questions and looks are a daily thing, and the season makes little difference. Still I like going barefoot so much it's never even made me consider putting on shoes, and the handful of times the weather was cold enough to make me wear shoes (hasn't happened for several years, thank the weather gods! ) I took the footwear off the second I got anywhere inside. I can't remember even thinking what people may've thought, it was coming OFF!!!

One time -I think it was the last winter I had to resort to any footwear- I even walked a distance in a couple inches of snow and took my flipflops off every time my feet had warmed up a little, put them back on every time they got too cold, maybe 5 times or so in half an hour, right on the public street. Of course people looked at me funny & commented when I wore only the flipflops too, but I thought it was great to notice how just getting my soles off the snow (and especially the salted roads) was enough to warm my feet up, and I also liked the feel of the snow enough that I wasn't going to keep walking in the flipflops when my toes were warm enough. I was too busy enjoying & being amazed at these two sensations to really pay attention to what people said, but I do vaguely remember reassuring people multiple times that I was fine, that day.

 

It's such a shame that our greatest barrier is always worrying about what other people are thinking or what they might say. Having said that, I for one always worry totally unnecessarily. We had our first decent sunny day in the UK yesterday and I went for a long walk round town. No one appeared to notice my feet. Certainly no one commented. (I did think one woman was going to say something when she called out "Excuse me"...but it was only to tell me I'd dropped something!). I do have the impression people seem to get more uptight about it in the US. Here in Europe people on the whole aren't bothered.

 

PS Sorry just realised I've sort of contradicted what Myranya just said. I DO sometimes get comments I admit, but generally no one seems to notice (or care). No doubt I would get comments in the snow, but I'm a fair weather barefooter I'm afraid. But good for her for sticking to her principles and not being put off by interfering busy bodies.

 

It's most often teenagers in groups who make comments -and I come across a lot of those. Through work, because there are several high schools on the route between home and the train station & town, with usually at least some kids who don't have class at the moment hanging around at the gate, and the shopping center where I do my daily shopping is a bit of a teen hang-out too. Teenagers in groups will almost always comment, and aren't generally positive about anything out of the ordinary (even their own alternative appearance has to be popular in their own peer group, for far most of them). Adults are rarely truly negative but they do speak up in surprise -even in summer. 'Where are your shoes?' 'Did you forget/lose your shoes?' 'Isn't that cold? (yes, even in summer! Had that question multiple times in t-shirt weather. For some reason quite a lot of the Dutch are convinced the ground is cold no matter how warm the air might be, a much less annoying myth than the belief it's illegal or dangerous but rather silly, really). I think it's because it is so very, very rare -I've seen only a handful of other barefooters (not counting those I met up with on purpose), less than one a year. The good part of it being so uncommon is that no one has rules against anything that 'never' happens, the bad part is that many people are just *so* totally baffled that even those who'd normally be reserved and wouldn't express their opinions about other alternative appearance just blurt something out before they can check themselves.

 

Yes, Myranya, same goes for me - and I often wonder why we never come across, as we pass Utrecht CS on a daily routine...

 

Even today it took a while for my feet to warm up when I was in tennis shoes after walking into school.

As we speak -3:45 PM our time- it's 8F with a wind chill of -12F. This is NOT how March should be!

 

I'm glad i live in the UK, no-one has a problem with bare feet.
On Saturday i was showing some visitors around the nature reserve where i do weekend voluntary work, and one made the comment "are your shoes being mended?" (thats a new one!) and i gave my stock reply "more fun, less tiring, stops my bad knee from hurting,etc.etc."
I'm a bit notorious now as the barefoot conservationist!

 

A foot of snow fell overnight and it's about 27F. It doesn't look to get above 40F for the next week. <_<

 

There is a video on YOUTUBE of a Dutch woman who makes it a point to go everywhere barefoot in the dead of winter. Whomever made the video took the time to interview her. Unfortunately, the interview is not in english, so I have no idea what she is saying.