In the whole history of the world, has one human being ever actually hurt another human being by going barefoot? Laws and codes are created to prevent people from bothering one another---how did bare feet get lumped in among real crimes (you know, larceny, rape, killing, colonialism, etc.)?
Well, probably some stupid idiot walking over splintering wood or glass shards cried so badly that they just had to ban bare feet. Or perhaps it was the one part of hippie dress in the 60s that they actually thought would be the easiest to ban, and it turned out to be so. Who knows what's going through shoddies' minds.
Personally, I think that since being barefoot in public isn't common, some people don't know how to react. Their immediate reaction is that it's not allowed. Apologies in advance to people from Indiana. When I was in grad school at Purdue. many of the locals had a very closed minded mentality. A few of us used to mock them by mimicking their attitude by saying "That's different. Let's burn it!" (Again, apologies, but you get the idea).
But I like to walk over splintering wood or glass shards! Especially in the presence of ignorant shoddies so that I can watch their shocked reactions!
