I feel like my BF adventures are starting to come crashing down

I don't get this. I've been going barefoot almost all the time for 6 months now, and just in recent weeks have I started to get opposition. Last month I was asked to leave a Wendy's restaurant. And now 3 times in a single week I've been told I must put on shoes or leave, at 2 more restaurants and a Lowe's hardware store.

At first my wife thought going BF was weird, but then she came around a bit and didn't say anything when we went places with me BF. But now she's starting to get pissed off a little, saying it's embarrassing when someone has to tell me to put on shoes, or even more so when I try to resist.

At the 2 restaurants in the past week, I just had to go out to the car and get my flops, as my family was with me and they wouldn't put up with having to leave and go somewhere else. Then at Lowe's, right after the restaurant the other night, we had just barely made it in the door when a guy pushing shopping carts in said I had to have shoes on, saying it was store policy. The Lowe's down the road where I normally visit has never said anything about me being BF, and I've been in that one numerous times. So I turned around and left (wife was with me then also, she was not happy).

I don't get it. For so many weeks and months I haven't had an issue, and now suddenly it's like EVERYONE has an issue. I'm going to go to my normal Lowe's store this week and if anyone says anything about shoes being required as store policy, this time I'm going to ask to see a copy of that policy. Not sure what will happen from there.

What does everyone else do when they encounter opposition like this? Like my wife keeps telling me, me arguing isn't going to make anyone suddenly change their policy, if they truly have one. But if there is no written policy and they still deny me entry, I feel like rights are being violated.

Thoughts?

 

Welcome to CHAOS....er, the world we live in. Going barefoot is not socially sanctioned (MAYBE in parts Australia or New Zealand or Germany). There are TONS of conventions rather than laws/statutes that people silently accord each other day in, day out. NONE of it is written (except in a few OSHA clauses for employees and airline passenger requirements), ALL of it is arbitrary and capricious. It's purely the luck of the draw. The only useful defense I've found (other than excluding one's partner during shopping rounds) is barefoot sandals, which either actually or apparently fool enough of the people enough of the time so that my soles can remain happily bare and their "perceptions" thwarted. One can, indeed, write letters and engage in legalistic campaigns, some of which will succeed, some of which will fail. I love going barefoot---I really do---but people, being the sheep they are, do not countenance difference. And being barefoot is being different. I can provide you the name and e-mail of an excellent BF sandal maker.

 

yep....lawsuits. It protects companies from people getting hurt in their stores and suing them.

 

Seems like your rights are effectively being violated. Too bad your wife is taking that attitude, which doesn't help. I'm lucky in that so far my partner has always accepted my being barefoot as one of my foibles, but if it started causing hassle in the way you describe I can imagine her taking the same line as your wife. I would like to think that if I got hassle in a store or restaurant to the extent that I was refused entry, I would demand to see the manager and make my point. However I can see that in a social setting this could prove awkward/embarassing and in reality would probably grab some footwear just to keep the peace.

I agree with NP that the biggest problem is society not liking anything that is different. And yet why is going barefoot such a big deal to some people?

Anyway, not offered much positive suggestion, I'm afraid, though hopefully some moral support!!

 

I don't know if I could handle something being strung around one toe. Plus all the ones I've seen look really feminine. Are there any that don't?

 

Mostly, the barefoot sandals available via the web have some extras like beads and shells making them look distinctly hippie or a little effeminate/feminine... which clearly isn't the right style for every man out there (just the weird ones, like me, for instance... ).

All kidding aside, you might want to make them yourselves, using instructions like the ones in the FAQ section of the Society for Barefoot Living web site, dealing with soleless footwear.

Those look more like regular sandals, only lacking a sole, keeping your foot in touch with the ground, as it should be.

And just in case a shop owner quotes some bogus health laws, the SBL web page has the right tools to debunk that myth right here - including letters from various state health departments, confirming that being barefoot in a store or restaurant as a customer does not violate any health law. Printing out such a letter and offering to show it to a wiseguy trying you bar you from barefooting his shop might just be what you need. Most often, these guys will then state some policy stating that bare feet are forbidden... most often (as I've come to read from other US members there), that collapses into nothingness, as soon as you ask to see it. Their last resort is then to quote the householder's right to deny anyone entrance, if they wish to. Denying that would mean trespassing, and that could get you into trouble.

The world would be a happier place if people wouldn't care about simple, natural and beautiful things like walking barefoot by tagging it as dangerous, unsanitary or weird...

Good luck in your barefooting, and don't let anyone keep you from baring your soles to the Earth. Find a nice spot of natural ground to walk on, draw some good vibes and power from it and keep walking the natural way.

Wiggling bare toes,

~*Ganesha*~

 

I guess it's somewhat easier for those without significant others or kids to "fight the power" and all that stuff. Not so much when your SO doesn't care about said fight and always follows any "rules" set before them.

 

Sent you a private message. Indeed, there are many that aren't feminine. As if a barefooter would care what somebody else thought....

 

I think that in the fall or winter being barefoot becomes increasingly conspicuous. Unless you live in a warm climate like Florida or California.

 

yeah, maybe that's it. Though I generally wear my VFF's if it's in the 40's or below. But lately this week it's been in the 60's-70's during the day. Thanksgiving day is supposed to be sunny and 68.

 

Check this out:

http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=430515

 

heh interesting. Oddly enough I have been in at least 3 or 4 different Starbucks around here BF and nobody said a thing, both during the day and at night.

 

Around here lately when its in the low to mid 60"s I've been amazed at the huge number of mommies walking around with themselves and their kids bundled in insulated winter type jackets. I got it when the temps dipped the week before but this mystifies me and I can only conclude that the time change and the date are doing the dictating, not logic. I've had a lot more notice of my barefeet from these bundled adults. Even though its warm out.