getting asked to put shoes on

being asked to put shoes on or being told 'you should have shoes on'

what do you do?


i've been asked a couple of times to put shoes on and been warned i need shoes in places but all i say is 'well... i mean i didn't wear any'
because normally i didn't unless i drove i always have some shoes in the car,
but when i walk to the store i normally don't have shoes, and if someone else is driving me 50% i don't have shoes on...

so what do you do?
have you ever been told you had to leave?

 

Yes.

Normally, my response is to act as pissed off and offended as possible, leave the establishment, and then never go back to that place ever again.

I once wrote a letter to the management of one of the places that did that, but I never received a reply.

 

What are you guys complaining about it's a courtesy to have your shoes on in a public establishment these days. Akin to taking your shoes off when you enter someones home. Totally understand if you don't have shoes but I don't think that's the issue.

 

I've actually never been asked to put shoes on...

 

When I went to the medical lab barefoot a couple of days ago for a blood draw, the phlebotomist (hmmm, pure guess on that spelling, too lazy to look it up!) said I should wear shoes in a lab. Realistically, she was right. It's good practice to be completely covered in a chemical lab and to wear shoes in a medical lab (possibility of stray needles on the floor). The bottom line is I just wanted to be barefoot and figured the lab practiced good housekeeping and stray needles on the floor were a minimal risk. Nonetheless, she made a good point. I'll probably go barefoot next time as well, but it's probably one of those occasions I should slip on my flip-flops for the 5-minute visit.

 

well i don't act pissed normally... unless they're mean ya know.
i just like to go on with what i'm doing. i mean if there's no sign... i think i should be aloud to not wear shoes. the only way they'll get me out is be getting enforcements and i'm sure at this time with the recession and all they're really not trying to lose customers...

yeah i don't go to doctors without shoes on because i don't want to step on anything that can give me a decease, doctors/hospitals are some of the most dirty places ever.

 

I did once get told to leave a liquor store because I was barefoot. It was off-putting, but I wanted what I wanted, so I went to my car, put on my flip-flops, went back in and completed my purchase. On the other foot, I never went back to that shop and have happily been making purchases barefoot at another store.

The whole world is about liability. But if you're barefoot, you assume the responsibility of being "unprotected," and you watch where you are going, just as you do if you are shod. Who the hell is going to walk on broken glass or syringes anyway? Yes, if you're wearing a shoes with a heavy sole, I guess you wouldn't think much about stepping on stuff, but being barefoot doesn't mean you're brain-dead---it just means YOU'RE BAREFOOT.

People don't think; they react.

 

i don't want to be a pain in the ass by repeating over and over the same mantra, but it is wrong to surrender your money and freedom to a random jerk who runs a crappy liquor store or else. the definitive punishment for those arrogant crocks o'shit is waving your money on their faces and tell them openly that you are going go spend it in the next store and induce everyone you know into not shopping there too. and this applies to the whole range of rude, stupid and arrogant behaviors that business owners show their customers, not just those nsnsns-related. everyone who longs for your bucks has to fucking earn'em and behave decently with you. you people outta there want to be enterpreneurs and capitalists and that's nice, but you've gotta take the bad sides too, like customers who stick to the competitors. hope i spoke my mind clearly.

 

Exactly!

This is something that most Americans have a huge problem with. First of all, they're lazy. Most people won't bother to put themselves out to stand up for something. I get the feeling no one in this country actually has any principles or beliefs, but I certainly don't ever see anyone defending any. Walking out of one store and going across the street to another seems to be too much effort for most Americans.

Second, most Americans who do actually profess some kind of belief, and take action to support it, only do so when it's convenient. For example, they won't shop at Wal-Mart, unless it's for this one thing that only they have, or they have it for the best price. They don't seem to understand that giving any money to a business establishment whose practices you don't support supports those practices. As long as they can keep making money off of you, even if it is only for that "one thing," they have no reason at all to change their practices.

 

I never cease to be amazed at the problems with barefooting in the Land of the Free.
There are no problems at all in the UK, which is surprising given the levels of state control freakery that we are currently being subjected to by our left-wing nanny state. (end of rant)

 

the land of the FREE .... HA

 

You boys want to pitch a hissy fit, please be my guest!

Amerika!

 

I don't understand it either, and I've lived here a LONG time. It's a disappointment. We have control freakery from both the far left and the far right, (sadly, to me as a left of center type, the left seems worse.) Our culture is shallow and litiginous, and possibly there is less thinking for oneself than I once knew.

Simple enough, I think, for establishments to post a sign along the lines of "Bare Foot at Own Risk" rather than the default NS/NS/NS, or the trend to phantom laws invoked by minor employees and minor establishments.

Worse than phantom laws or "real" rules is that over here bare just looks weird or gross to most Americans; most of the "enforcing" will be done by our fellow citizens of this "free country" by their stares, put-downs, condescending comments, barely concealed school yard tittering, and the overall immense push to conform.

I have no idea where this comes from or what the advantage is. Some things have indeed loosened up here, such as the increasing preponderance of shorts and casual or smart casual attire where only the dour suit would do previously, (thank God!) but for barefooting it's worse than ever and it's now way over the top for most.

 

no probs in the uk with this, really? i've been thrown out of a pub for going barefoot.

 

I've only been told to put shoes on/that I should have shoes on in two places: One grocery store I frequent (never had a problem with it in others), and school. At school I would just say "I don't want to" and they'd usually let me alone. At the grocery store, if I refused, I would be kicked out. That grocery store has kicked me out for not wearing shoes countless times.

 

I feel very fortunate. I've had only one bad experience in which I was denied service because I was barefoot. That was at a Target store last year (see thread "Bummer at Target"). I've since been back to that location and had no problems. I started keeping a log of public places I've visited barefoot. I'm around 210 different places this calendar year. I think I've only had two negative comments about my feet - one at a 7-Eleven, the other at the medical lab mentioned earlier in this thread, and neither refused me service. Based on my successes, over 99% of the places I've visited accept, or at least tolerate, bare feet.

 

no shoes--no shirts-no service-they still have sign like that---lol

 

Yeah, the place I've noticed them the most is Home Depot. I think it must just be a "Cover Your Ass" move. I've visited several different Home Depot locations barefoot - wandered the aisles, went to Customer Service, requested assistance from floor employees, checked-out, etc., and I've never gotten any flack.

 

Prezactly!

If you're barefoot where there could be metal or glass shards (say, a liquor store or hardware store, let alone food establishments, where you are obviously going to touch the foodstuffs with your dirty feet, not your clean hands), there's this reflex non-thinking: YOU'RE BAREFOOT. YOU MUST BE BRAIN-DEAD!

Thinking, reasoning, insightful adults decide to walk barefoot. They KNOW what they are doing. They WILL take responsibility for their actions. I would no more, say, put my hand into an active fireplace at a fancy restaurant than walk barefoot over a broken bottle (assuming I'm not trying to impress someone or myself).

Shit happens because people are scared of being sued. Look at medical malpractice insurance..........

 

What do you mean? The United States is a free country. We don't charge for admission. Anyone can come from anywhere else, move in, and take advantage of all of our services without paying a cent. But then, that's probably a rant for another thread in another forum.