Almost gave in and considered wearing a jandal (flip flop)

We have had some quite severe aftershocks here in the last few days (There were massive earthquakes here in Sep. 10, Feb and June of 2011 and lots of small ones in between) and when I went to the supermarket last night the photo in the newspaper of everything on the shelves in my local one lying smashed on the floor a couple of days ago made me wonder if maybe a jandal on my good foot would be a sensible idea. My other foot is in a cast so that isn't an issue.

I knew that the mess had been cleaned up but I did have this mental image of trying to navigate aisles of broken glass and food barefoot on my crutches.

I decided to chance it, and went in my usual outfit of a pair of board shorts and absoluely nothing else. I worked on the theory that if we did have another decent shake I could actually put weight on my casted foot if there was a chance of cutting my bare foot.

I got in and out safely and had a long conversation at the checkout with the girl who wanted to know all about my cast and crutches - no mention at all of my lack of shoes and shirt.

 

There are several places I go where I have to at least *appear* to have on shoes every week, so I found another way to stick it to the Shoe Police:

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It's only a symbolic, moral victory, since only about one square inch of skin touches the ground, but the hole will grow. The hole started out in July, barely big enough to see. It grew very slowly, because I go barefoot most of the time.

No matter how dogmatic a store or restaurant manager is about making sure no part of my foot ever touches their floor, they can't win this time. They're not going to ask to see the soles of my shoes.

I can honestly say that at least part of one foot has touched every surface that I walked on from early July to the end of November. I can't think of any other way I could have gotten away with this, where I live.

 

Do your board shorts have large pockets? If so, just slip a sandal into your pocket in case you do run into glass or debris. Usually those pairs that cost $1 or $2 are thin and would fit easily and comfortably into a pocket deep enough. And with your cast, you only need one. Never hurts to be prepared, and you may never need it, but if you do, you'll be glad you had it.

 

I have got a pair which are far worse. The heels have gone as well. They would not have been much use to me as in this case I was thinking I needed to protect my soles. In New Zealand I have yet to find anywhere I can't go in bare feet. I have never been thrown out of a place for no shoes.

 

If I get lucky and don't break a strap, my favorite pair should be in that condition within 2 or 3 years. I'm not sure that it will matter though. It's still going to feel like wearing flip-flops, because that's what they are. I think they will always be nothing more than an idiot-proof way of appearing to follow business' rules against bare skin touching the floor, without really complying.

Other people won't know what I'm doing, but I will. I guess it's the moral equivalent of giving a jerk the middle finger when you know he can't see it.

If these companies were as fanatical about safety as they want to appear, they would come up with a way to measure the thickness and strength of the sole of every shoe that comes in the door, and post a rule about what the minimums have to be. A rubber sandal sole that is worn down to a fraction of an inch isn't going to stop anything sharp from punching through. Some have only a quarter inch of soft material when they are brand new. In other words, the current business rules are worthless.

Because of unexpected hazards like you describe, I usually keep a pair of tough-soled Teva sandals handy, in the back of my car. I use them so seldom that the same pair has lasted at least 10 years - maybe 15. I'll wear something like that at night, when I'm going to be walking where the lighting is poor, and there could be nails or glass that I can't see. It's a rare thing.

How cold does it get in New Zealand? I'm not willing to hurt myself to make a point, and it gets cold enough here for the cold to be painful if you are out in it a half hour, with no protection. I probably average wearing "normal" enclosed shoes about 15 days a year, scattered across December, January, and February.

 

Interesting concept! I never thought of shoes with holes in that way, but you are right. They do violate the intent of the stupid rules against bare feet in businesses.

Women's flats often come with extremely thin soles, which can wear out long before the rest of the shoe starts looking bad. I never throw out a favorite pair of flats just because they have holes in the soles. I just become more careful about when and where I wear them, and I make sure that I don't wear them with hose or socks (not common for me anyway). I try to remember not to cross my legs and show everybody the holes.

Next time I wear one of those pairs to a business meeting or nice restaurant, I'll think about Hip Forums.

There is always a way around every rule.

 

It depends where you are in New Zealand. I am in the South Island and it snowed in town twice this winter. That was enough to make me wear my jandals (flip flops) although once I couldn't as I was on a plane flying back, jandal was in my checked in bag, so I had to walk across the tarmac in 5cm of fresh snow on my crutches with a leg in a plaster cast so I couldn't even put that foot on the ground for extra balance without ruining the cast. My good foot was bare. if anyone else has walked barefoot on crutches in snow I would like to meet them! To get to my car I put my flip-flop on, but the snow was getting between my foot and my flip flop and it was actually easier to take it off and go barefoot again.

If you want to get some really odd looks, barefoot on crutches in snow works every time...