Free Your Feet!!!!

Viewing this forum, I am really surprised at mainstream societys view that going barefoot is rather taboo. I live in Australia, in the northern part of it and it is hot hot hot all year round! So much so, that I have gone barefoot nearly all my life, without much of a second thought, and definitely not as some sort of protest or anything.
Way back when I was at primary school, it wasn't compulsory to wear footwear so I rarely did. Almost everybody I know goes barefoot, unless of course we feel like it, or if we are at work, or if the ground is 100 degrees and is likely to scorch the soles of our feet should they be bare!
Once I got into high school and discovered it was compulsory to wear closed in footwear every day of the year I found it hard to get used to at first, and often boycotted the rules by wearing thongs or sandals whenever I could get away with it.
Being barefoot is great, people from all over should let their toes wiggle and breathe and discover the world!!! I know that's what I want for myself, so why deny my feet that privilege??

 

Hi Ethereal, welcome to the forum fellow barefoot one! I was wondering if you lived around Darwin. I read about the casual barefoot atmosphere and nice hot summers in that area.

 

Summer where I live is always hot usually around 100 degrees for several weeks.


Just say no to shoes and socks!!

 

Heh. A few of my dad's brothers and sisters moved to Australia (Perth and surrounding areas) years and years ago. My cousin Nathan came to stay with my family for a while to see the States, when I was about thirteen. That was the first time I had even thought of going barefoot in public, because he was a few years older than me and he went barefoot everywhere. It bothered my dad at the time, I remember. But it always stuck with me that they must "have it right" in Australia. Just last year we had a family reunion and when I saw one of my aunt's she looked at my flip flops and toe rings and said "You look like you're from Australia!", and told me that I could visit anytime and wouldn't even need my sandals. I'll have to take them up on it I think!

 

Hehehehe, yeah, going barefoot here is just so normal, nobody cares to look twice. However i think in other places of Australia its different... when my sister and I went to visit Melbourne we ventured out with no shoes one day and got a few strange looks.
I guess I am lucky to live in a place where a personal choice such as wearing shoes or not is not a big deal. I suppose for others it is something which can be a difficult battle... they feel strongly within their heart to go barefeet (afterall, weren't we born without shoes), but to do so, they would be defying the rest of society.
Maybe if going barefoot wasn't such a no-no ( as it appears to be in other parts of the world) perhaps people of all different social status would be compelled to go barefoot.

 

God damn... I miss that southern cross.....

 

At my school its against the rules to go barefoot and even slippers ... I understand you can get hurt but I think if u wanna go barefoot go barefoot ( unless its winter of course) lol . If you get hurt thats your problem ... i think its a stupid rule .. i like to run around in my sock in class and sometimes in the halls during class ... its fun LOL and i dont care what people think of it cuz its me and i love it !! LOl
Peace
katy

 

Agree with you, all the way. I know your country is almost the size of ours, so I expected some regional differences one part of Australia to another. But I understand as a whole, your country is freer about these things than ours. We lag behind you. I remember when I was younger, I envied that most Australians, or more of you, anyway, were able to wear shorts. Now, finally, that has spread up to my cold corner of the US! Now if we can wear the stuffy northeastern US down on being barefoot---

I'm surprised to read where you say that closed footwear was required in your high school. Again, even in barefoot-unfriendly and COLD Maine, kids often wear flops to the high school here, both sexes. Shorts, minis, or longs, either way, flops are common enough. Except when it's deady cold. But that hasn't been a problem this very mild winter. I work outside, so I have to be ready for whatever condition I will face on a given day. Depends on how cold it is, how much snow is on ground.

 

I love, love, LOVE being barefoot.
At my school we can wear flip flops and sandals, so when it's warmer I usually do.
But when it's warmer and I'm at home , i generally stay barefoot.
it's nice.
All throughtout my schooling, however, shoes were mandatory. Even if they were just flipflops.
I've never been allowed to be barefoot at school. Sounds nice though.

 

That whole "no shoes no shirt no service" rule in so many public places in the states just bites bad. I just lovvvvvvvve being barefoot and I'd love to do it in more places, more of the time.

 

Do you actually see that particular sign in a lot of places nowadays? Something like that is so rude, arrogant, and unfriendly - not just to barefooters, but to any customer approaching the door of a business. You hear a lot about NSNSNS signs, but do they really exist out there much? I never see such signs around where I live or even in my travels around the country (although I did see one not long ago in Key West). I'm not talking about like McDonald's or something like that where they just may say "Footwear required" or "No bare feet," but to actually post No shoes, No shirt, No service. A sign like that just seems like an anachronism nowadays and certainly would be an indication of a business that has no clue about having a favorable public image.

 

sadly, the store I work at has a sign saying that. It also says "please, no rollerblades"

I hate those signs with a passion.

 

So it actually says word for word, "No shoes, No shirt, No service" (or shoes/shirt in reverse order)?

How many other signs actually saying those words have you seen?

I'm just really curious. I just never see signs actually saying that (except maybe 2 or 3 in my whole life). Yet people are always talking about, "Yeah, dude, but what do you do when stores say 'No shoes, No shirt, No service'?" About 90% of stores or restaurants I've come across have no sign at all about being barefoot, and the ones that do don't actually say, "No shoes, No shirt, No service."

Please don't say it's only a California thing. I've been all over - except the Northeast U.S. That's the only part of the country I've never lived or traveled to.

 

The one at my work says "No shirt, no shoes, no service. Please no rollerblades" I see them from time to time, they're not rare.

And even places that don't have the sign, like Blockbuster, have told me to wear shoes.

 

Michigan must be a really hostile place. Though I don't remember it being so when I lived in Muskegon a few years ago.

I've never been told to wear shoes in Blockbuster. But that brings up an interesting issue. I have found that you are more likely to have something said to you in places that do not have a sign than in places that do. I'm speaking of course of situations where you just ignore any sign, which I always do if there's one there. It's been only on very rare occasions that someone has said something to me anyway, and that has never happened in a place that had a sign on the door. I think they must figure if they put a sign on the door they're covered for whatever misguided reason they think there might be to ban bare feet.

So, don't be intimidated by signs on a door. Most of the time they are put up in fast food franchises, like McDonald's or Burger King, by the franchiser corporation, and the actual owner of the franchise usually is forced to put up all corporate signage, but in actuality, he or she couldn't care less about what good paying customers wear on their feet.

I'm not sure if Blockbuster is a franchised operation or not, but you just were unlucky enough to run into some jerk who likes being shoe police. I don't think most Blockbusters care. Why would they? You're not putting your bare feet on the videos are you?

 

There are quite a few signs up in Indiana. Maybe it's a midwest thing...

Peace & Love

 

/.

 

I am just soooo glad that I am living in the Netherlands.
There are no signs anywhere over here. If I go shopping I always leave the shoes at home, where they belong.
Noone has ever made a remark about it, which is great.
There are no other barefooters in the shops however, which is not so great.

 

I only recently started getting into barefooting everywhere...I am a runner, and surfing online once I found this site
http://www.runningbarefoot.org
and thought to myself, wow. so since I found that page, I've walked barefoot all over, and done a bit of barefoot running too
its so great man.

 

There actually are really not that many signs here in the U.S. either, certainly they are not all over the place, in every store or restaurant, like some posts might lead you to believe. Apparently it really seems to depend on what part of the country you're in. Attitudes do seem to vary a lot around the U.S. Based on what I've seen posted over the years, I think the Northeast U.S. is the most barefoot hostile, probably followed by the Northern Midwest. Most barefoot friendly: the Southeast, the South in general, and the West Coast. Although, you're still going to find certain places within those areas that seem hostile. For example, the most hostile place I've personally ever run across was Las Vegas and Southern Nevada. It may have a lot to do with how many tourists or transients frequent the area - and that may account for why some parts of Florida seem barefoot hostile, while other parts are very tolerant and friendly.