To want to walk barefoot in the summer (including into shops)

[nomorequotes]

I don't understand why in this country it is considered so bad to be barefoot, I have been told I am not allowed to walk into Tescos barefoot, or Waitrose, they claim it is a 'health and safety issue' because something might fall on my feet. Well if that is the case shouldn't they be banning flip-flops too? Flip-flops are pretty dangerous things really, accountable for many broken toes, ankles and feet in the summer. I have a friend who broke his ankle so badly it was like he had been in a car accident and all he had done is twisted wearing flip-flops.

So why the intolerance to bare feet? They have been outside the same as shoes so it can't be a hygiene thing and they are much safer than flip-flops.

I am sick of having to have shoes in the car just so I can walk into shops, it makes no sense to me, if I want to be barefoot I should be allowed to be!

I have just had a look at another thread of yours.
Are you and your child going barefoot, partly to save money?

Wouldn't ever go barefoot. I've seen too many people (men and boys) spitting outside and people letting dogs pee and shit then half-heartedly cleaning it up.
On the other hand I have a thing about feet. Don't even let my husband go barefoot in the house - the last thing I want to look at is his hobbit feet slapping around on the floor.

Nothing to do with saving money. Admittedly I don't have any sandals and neither does my youngest, the eldest does but they were donated from the nursery. So its either bare feet or big heavy boots and it is just too hot for all that!

I've come back from work today (high heels all day) and have de-shoed. For me it's normal to be barefoot as much as possible. There's something relaxing about being barefoot. It's not a stand against anything. It's a preference. I'm with nomore on this one. Why shouldn't people do it. Try it. Just for one day. You might like it.

"and it is just too hot for all that!"

Where do you live that is so hot?

Thanks Ememem. I think its irrelevant where I live, if I feel uncomfortable in socks and shoes why should I wear them? To make other people feel more comfortable seemingly. Which funnily enough is not my main aim

In the interests of research and, um, freeing my mind :o I've taken off my socks and slippers for the evening.

Haven't bothered reading anything past squoosh's post because it is both correct and hilarious.

I did finally get round to reading that Guardian link

I don't want to dis OP but I'm afraid the tears are running down my legs.

Especially when the writer says:

I offered a homeless man some trainers

She doesn't say what he said in return.

I have to ask - tears are running down your legs?? :o

I've painted my toenails, which needed doing. So being barefoot for half an hour has already proved beneficial...

I have a real aversion to feet. Unless they are perfectly pedicured, hair free, no hard yellow skin, no long nails, no peel skin or bubbles, no dirty bits and pretty shaped toes they make me feel really, REALLY queasy and uncomfortable. I actually avoid going to "no shoe" houses in the summer because there will be sockless feet on display and I can't cope, I hate it. I can handle baby and toddler feet, but older than that really physically turns my stomach. I couldn't cope with bare feet in a supermarket or any public place. It's almost a phobia, I really can't handle it. Mens feet make me retch and all my boyfriends have been banned from bare feet in my presence, ever. The worst is seeing women in flappy sandles where the soles of their heels are on display as they walk and they have mucky soles and a line of cracked hard dusty skin round the edge, or fat or boney toes with really long or ridged claws even if they have some (usually bright high gloss) varnish on, I actually feel physically nauseous and wobbly, I don't know why, I don't know if I had some foot related psychological trauma as a baby, but I can't handle feet. Yuck yuck yuck! Even writing this post I am seriously feeling unwell. Please, if you must run around in public with no shoes, put some socks on at least!!

There's a mum at our school who mostly walks barefoot. The only shoes I have seen her wear are crocs or wellies (in bad weather) but otherwise she does the school run barefoot. Don't know if she shops barefoot or has every been asked to put shoes on.

Each to their own I say, but I wouldn't walk around in public with bare feet cos I'd be paranoid about glass on the ground. In my own house and garden I happily walk around bare foot though DH thinks its gross as my feet are black by the end of the day.

I walked barefoot for an entire lovely summer in the 1980s when I couldn't afford shoes anyway.
In the end the soles of my feet were so toughened that when i trod straight on an upturned broken bottle hidden in grass i didn't even get a scratch.
It felt very strange to have shoes on again in autumn though!

Walking barefoot in the comfort of your own home is one thing, but out on the streets? No, that's gross.

You should soon complain if you slipped on liquid or cut your feet on something walking through the supermarket.

Yab ridiculous.

I've just got back from Australia and, yes, people did go barefoot. Some people, in some places. They're called bogans... And in my travels around the world, bare feet are not universally acceptable outside the home.

Admittedly I put shoes on to run

That's just perverse!

I'm amazed at how wound up people are getting about this. Glad you are so well travelled bookmole - I am as well - however I can assure you that barefootedness is not the sole preserve of bogans in Australia or New Zealand. It is context dependent - most people wouldn't walk down the main city centre in bare feet, but many would feel comfortable popping into a shop or walking into a friend's house on the weekend. I probably would have been more circumspect about going barefoot when I lived in London, but mainly because of the sniffy attitudes. I still would have taken my shoes off at a park, for example. Luckily for us (in NZ anyway) we don't need to worry so much about stepping on used syringes.

sparrow the autumn return to shoes is always a toughie!

Necessary though.

Regardless of what that video says merry I need to run in running shoes to support me, I have enough trouble running as it is without having to worry about what is on the ground in front of me at speed.

Not for me, I like the barefoot shoes though, with very light soles, they are fine!

I like being barefoot too, and like you don't seem to have the dog poo issue others seem to have. I didn't do it for attention either, as a teenager I used to wear those baggy jeans that were a bit too long for me (I'm short) and because I have small feet no one could see I was barefoot so would have been a rubbish attempt at attention seeking, I just felt nicer! I get really hot feet and the first thing I do when back home now is to take off my shoes and socks.

Running barefoot feels amazing too, and for some reason it is much easier too.

I'm really shocked that so many people think this is normal, not trying to be nasty it's just something I've never seen. I didn't realise people did this.

How utterly wierd. Not you, OP, but all the things you have been accused of. I don't go barefoot, ever, really, as it's not comfortable because my feet haven't toughened up. But it really, seriously, wouldn't remotely bother me to see someone barefoot.

As for this declaring the sight of feet disgusting, well, that's odd. They're just feet! If you can't stand the sight of feet that's your problem to resolve, the rest of the world doesn't need to cover up for you!

As for declaring you attention seeking, how bizarre. Because someone in bright coloured high heels is not remotely drawing attention to their feet!

Social mores are funny. Nearly as funny as the reaction people have at the suggestion that they might be broken.

I don't go without shoes because I want attention - I actually hate being the centre of attention - I do it because I don't like wearing shoes, nothing to do with anybody else. It would never even occur to me that other people might judge me for of it. Then again, I was raised by a pack of hippies.

I usually start out with shoes on, and slip them off whenever and wherever I can manage it.
I drive without shoes, have had to break hard in the past and had no problem with it.
Also, the only times I have ever slipped, or slipped and fallen, it has been while I was wearing shoes. On more than one occasion it has been the fault of the shoes.

Come and live in New Zealand! Loads of people barefoot in cinemas, restaurants, shops etc in summer, and some kids wear no shoes even in winter on frosty pavements. It's just totally normal.