I came across this on a Foot Fetish site. College students went without shoes one day on April 16, 2009. http://onedaywithoutshoes.wordpress.com/
Did you read the whole page? They made it sound like there is nothing on earth more dangerous or unhealthy than going without shoes. They even repeated the restaurant health myth! Apparently, the purpose of the April 16 event was to drive home the point that nobody on earth should be expected to do anything without shoes. All those college students were not used to walking barefoot, so of course they had sore feet at the end of the day! That proves nothing.
I completely agree with NotDeadYet about this. This event is just further evidence that today's young Americans are largely misinformed and now far detached from their own cultural history when kids used to go barefoot all summer in their own country. I wouldn't be surprised if shoe companies sponsored the event. I can assure you that for poor people, the lack of footwear has got to be the least of their problems.
No, I just came across this collection of Flickr pix while at work and put the link up quickly. I thought it was like a nude-in or some other momentary daring thing college students are supposed to do. Figured they were going to crash the restaurants or harass them for their "No Shoes-No Service" policy. When I was a young Hippie in New Orleans I used to walk around the Quarter with nothing on but a pair of cut-off shorts. (got a lot of guys whistling at me too ) I do know what city sidewalk black soles are like - as well as the little invisible slivers of broken glass. I only go completely barefoot now on the beach, opting for flip flops the rest of the time here in Miami Beach. Maybe if I get time I'll go back to the link and read what the "barefoot day" was actually about.
Well, that day (April 16) was designated as a "day without shoes" by a shoe company in order to raise "awareness" for people in Africa being too poor to afford shoes... There already was a discussion about that day in this thread in the barefoot forums. Wiggling toes, ~*Ganesha*~
I really hate this "too poor to afford shoes" idea. The fact that shoes are not high enough on the priorities of the poor shows the lack of importance of shoes, not how poor they are. They're probably also too poor to afford a mobile phone, but I bet they'd rather have one than a pair of shoes.
They did it for all the wrong reasons -- to pity those POOR barefoot people who couldn't afford shoes. BTW, when I was an undergrad, I was barefoot every day from Easter through Thanksgiving. Same every day in grad school when I earned my MA (summer sessions only). Now that I'm a teacher, its barefoot every day in the school buildings. Hugz Bobby
