Share Your Positive Experiences!

Interesting day!

I went to Office Max to claim my prize (see earlier post – “I Never, Ever Thought This Would Happen!!!”). Today it’s colder that I would normally go barefoot, (~42 deg F, 6 deg C), but I felt I had to make a point. When I entered, the same guy who two days ago told me I needed shoes and smirked at me was just inside the door. I explained I was there to get my gift card. He immediately “snapped to” and called about it. What justice! He mentioned it to another employee who then joined the mission to fulfill their manager’s offer. I was polite and didn’t gloat or act inconvenienced. At the same time, it was obvious they were on-alert for the “barefoot buyer.” Anyhow, the gift card was processed and I was on my way. I’ll be happy to go back now that I know they’ll respect my shopping barefoot.

From there I grabbed something to eat, no biggie. Then I went to a funky coffee shop. I’ll be darned if one of the workers didn’t stop me and tell me I needed shoes. She said it was a Health Dept. thing. I responded that it wasn’t a Health Dept. policy but it may be a store policy. She then said I should probably wear shoes next time. As I waited for my coffee, she came up apologetically and said wearing shoes is her boss’ policy. The employees aren't allowed to wear sandals or even open-backed shoes (e.g., clogs). We then started talking and she was pretty friendly. I got my coffee. I’ll probably go back when it warms up – and be barefoot again!

Since joining this site in September I’ve been keeping a list of stores, etc. where I’ve gone. Now that I can move the Office Max location to the “accepted” list, I’ve recorded 101 places where I’ve gone barefoot and been accepted and only one place where I was denied service. Locations include shops, restaurants, financial institutions, medical services, government buildings, etc. My only bad experience so far was at a Target location. I’ll go back there as well. I’ve got just over a 99% success rate. That’s why I started this thread – bare feet are accepted, or at least tolerated, most everywhere!

 

Hey, StraightToes:

Happy to hear that you persevered and got not only an apology from the manager, but a $25.00 gift card to boot! I had posted in here recently in the "1000 Places To Be Barefoot" thread that I had gone to an Office Depot store one time barefoot. The two employees on duty at the time near the front door saw me enter the store and gave me "disapproving" looks, but didn't say anything. I was prepared to let them know I was going to their competitor down the street (Staples) if they gave me a hard time. Fortunately, they didn't, and I bought what I needed from Office Depot.

As far as your experience with the coffee shop, even though it's not a health code violation to enter the establishment in bare feet, it's still the manager's decision whether or not to allow barefoot patrons. Sad but true.

That's great that you're keeping a list of stores and other places that you've been to that have been barefoot friendly. I know there's a post in the archives of this forum of a lady who made a list of all the places she's been to barefoot (not as extensive as yours) and has never had a problem. That's how I found this forum, because I was Googling for "barefoot friendly businesses."

 

That could have been me! I will always say "I see we like the same shoes!" Or "We're wearing the same color shoes" if her feet are black also. Makes for a good conversation. That's how I met two ex-girlfriends (they both moved away) in the Village (NYC). It was great to have a girlfriend to barefoot around the city with.

 

A few Women at work and I have a Girls night out every couple of weeks, We usually go to a Sports Bar/Restaurant for dinner and a few drinks, usually by the end of the evening we have all slipped our shoes off and on a few occasions I have not even worn shoes. All of the waitresses and waiters have never had a negative comment.
After a long day it is nice to know that we can go out for dinner and drinks and be comfortable.

 

There’s a female intern I used to work with in my former job. Everything was professional between us, but by the end of her second term, we had figured out were both loved being barefoot. She's graduated now, but we stay in touch and meet once or twice a year for lunch. The last time we met, she mentioned that bars are the one place she hasn’t had much success visiting barefoot. She always gets comments about the possibility of glass on the floor and is asked to leave. This even happened when she did a semester study abroad in Australia, which is considered barefoot friendly.

I’m glad to hear things are working for you in that respect. Different places, different opinions on the topic. Personally, with the exception of island vacations, I haven’t done much barefoot bar-hopping. Usually when I go to bars anymore it's to meet former co-workers and I have to maintain a bit of a professional air. Funny how a thin flap of rubber on your soles makes all the difference in the world as to whether you’re accepted, even in casual social situations.

Anyhow, the cold has set in and I’m afraid I’m only barefoot in public in warm weather (>65 deg F/18 deg C). Now that you’ve mentioned success entering bars barefoot, I might just have to try it. I have been barefoot in bars, but only after entering in flip-flops and kicking them off. No one seems to care then. Working from home, I have loaded up the laptop and driven barefoot to a coffee shop and set up shop for a few hours. What a perk! I’m a purist in that I believe in going with no safety net – no shoes in the car – sink or swim!

 

When I was in college, a bunch of us would go bowling. And instead of renting shoes, the place would let us bowl barefoot. That was a lot of fun. But the last time I went bowling, the manager required us to rent shoes. Ah... those were the days.:cheers2:

 

Yea!!!
Last month it was -19 F (-28 C) here. Today it was 60 F (16 C). I put on shorts and flip-flops to run errands, but after a bit, my feet were squirming to be free! Off came the flip-flops. I went barefoot to my credit union and to Starbucks. No comments, no issues, no problems! Not bad for mid-January in Colorado!