Barefoot Random Thoughts

Ever have an interesting observation you'd like to post but it doesn't fit in an existing thread? No not something that's thought provoking and deserves its own thread, but something that you just want to express. An example would be a thread I started last week titled "Bare Feet and TV." I felt the need to vent but had no good place to put it. I really didn't think there was a lot to comment on, so I wasn't expecting a lot of replies. That would have been perfect for what I'm trying to start.

What about a "Barefoot Random Thoughts" thread (i.e., this thread)? If you've got something interesting to state in passing this would be the place to put it. There's already a whole forum titled "Random Thoughts" in the Hip Forums. The thread I'm trying to start is specific to the barefoot lifestyle.

Anyhow, "Bare Feet and TV" (my own thread) belongs here. I've got another contribution as well. Just an observation that doesn't really have a home.

Ever go to your profile and look at the list of visitors? Inevitably a few show up who you don't know so you click on their name. Suddenly you discover they've been members for years, have no profile information, and have no postings to their credit. I don't know, I just wonder who's out there checking out my barefoot postings (that's about the only place I post).

Other Random Thoughts? Any comment is fair game. I just ask that it have some connection to the barefoot forum. If it deserves its own thread - go for it. If not, this would be a place to capture it.

 

As a general observation, I think is site is awesome. I've been going barefoot for a couple of years steadily, and the level of observation in these posts and the levels of experience are extremely insightful. Everybody's different, and somehow everybody's the same. Same sorts of anxieties, same kinds of social problems, different approaches, different tolerances, but everybody delights in going barefoot and just wants to be left alone to do it, even I dare say to enjoy it, revel in it. I'M BAREFOOT! IT FEELS GREAT! Some of the posts are silly (mine), some of them practical, all very human and plain interested in getting on with...Revolution? Insurgency? Social Malcontentment? nah...just runnin' around without shoes on: barefoot. What is the freakin' BIG DEAL? Well, friend, lemme tell ya..........

 

Here's another random thought:

Given the membership numbers, we probably have, at best, two barefooters per state and 1.75 per European country.

Has anyone here ever MET anyone else? Four (or 3.75) bare feet getting together?.......

I've met a couple of members because I knew these people prior to seeing them post here. But is there any remote possibility of people actually meeting??? You know, the 2 barefooters from New Jersey (and u no who u r) could meet the two barefooters from Pennsylvania.

Yeah, I'll put THAT in my pipe and smoke it, but you all get the idea.

Silly me........

 

I have bad blisters from barefooting.

Hurts to walk.

 

The closest I came was last week when I was staying overnight in Philly by the airport and you PM'd me Nuspieds. By that time it was getting late and I had to get up at 5:00 AM to fly home. That's how my travel normally is - blow into town, go where I'm told, do what I'm told, fly home. Not a bad position, but that's my travel in a nutshell. That's the closest I've come to meeting another member. Then again, I haven't really tried.

 

The UK barefooters had a group meeting in London in May, there was 9 of us.

 

I think it would be awesome if I could convert other people to barefooting.

 

Does anyone else ever wonder about those who post like mad in the "Barefoot" forum for a week or so and then disappear? It seems like they'll have a name like "Barefoot Rodney" and you'll think they're really into it. I've sent friendship requests to a few who have never responded. Does this site allow you to create an alter ego? Everything I've ever posted has been under the "StraightToes" name. I can't believe someone would pay to join this site to to post a handful of comments and then vanish.

 

since when do you have to pay to join this site?? I joined years back, so maybe it has changed since then.

 

To take advantage of all the bells and whistles there's a modest charge. My bigger point is that there seems to be a boatload of folks who cruise through this forum, post stuff non-stop for a week or so, disappear, and can't be contacted. No, it's not a problem, more of a curiosity.

One of my favorites is when someone starts posting that they "need help to go barefoot." I haven't seem one of those in a while. Typically they carry on and whine about how hard it is or why their situation is unique. I'm usually sympathetic at first as it does take some nerve to go out in public the first time, but there's only one way to do it - and that's to do it. I can't give courage via an on-line forum.

 

We think going barefoot's hot.
Society says, "Oh, no! It's not!"
They take pot shots at us a lot
Until our self-concept is snot.....

 

Remember, this is the Internet. We can be, or pretend to be, anyone we wish or fantasize about. The person(s) to whom you refer may have just passed by. A rest stop on the highway of their life. Maybe it was just a passing thought, they lost interest, fell to pressure from others, and moved on. Another possibility is that they are impostors. I can cite some actual examples. For those who are serious, they will hang in there. Others will vanish. Best be gone.

>My bigger point is that there seems to be a boatload of folks who cruise >through this forum, post stuff non-stop for a week or so, disappear, and >can't be contacted. No, it's not a problem, more of a curiosity.

 

Last month I was visiting my dad. He lives in a high-rise retirement complex. I walked in wearing shorts and flip-flops. There were two older women (mid-80's?) sitting by the elevator. We struck up a quick conversation while I was waiting.

Ladies: Aren't you cold?
Me: No, it's sunny and pretty nice outside.
Ladies: Where are your shoes?
Me: I've got my flip-flops on.
Ladies (with an approving grin): Do whatever you want - it doesn't matter!

I think they get it - do what you want. The wisdom of age!
I've seen a few interviews with older men and women. Often they're asked if they'd do anything different with their lives if they had the opportunity. Quite often part of their response is "I'd go barefoot more in the Spring." Among those who said this - Andy Rooney, the crusty, funny old journalist with a brief segment at the end of each week's "60 Minutes" television news magazine.

The old folks get it, why not everyone else?

 

Greetings, fellow barefooters,

Do you think that someday bare feet might become fully
accepted as safe in a job environment?
For I found some strong evidence for the safety of bare feet in
professional life - in this case, in the professional life of
models:

http://www.fashionologie.com/date/2009/02/19

If you scroll down to the middle of the page, you'll
find a snippet about a show of Brian Reyes' fall 2009
collection, featuring models taking off their shoes, since
the high-heeled shoes made for this collection were
both uncomfortable and unsafe, making quite a few
models topple and nearly fall. And, furthermore,
those shoes were made by what has become the
fashion epitome of women' shoes: Manolo Blahnik.

I never thought I'd see a woman of fashion preferring
bare feet over a pair of Manolos. Who knows - the
world of fashion might take a turn in our favour as well.

Wigging safely bare toes,

~*Ganesha*~

 

I'll bet those models were happy to get out of those awful shoes!

I doubt that the fashion world will ever make barefooting mainstream but at least we can still have hope.

 

I remember a youtube video from a fashion show where a *bunch* of models stumbled and fell, and in one show -not like some of those video's of all kind of snippets from different times and places edited together. Can't remember the link but that was a nice example of how totally unsafe and uncomfortable and totally ridiculous that kind of footwear is, I mean, if those models who are used to high heels can't even walk on it!

 

you make a great point, fashion models cannot walk in the ridiculous heels. however, women are conditioned to believe this horrible shoes make them look good. these heels are the most horrible things women can wear. i'll never forget when i worked in the corporate world, i would estimate 80% of the women i worked with wore sneakers (gym shoes) to the office, put them on to go to lunch, and put them on to go home. oh yes, high heels are good for you (lol).

 

I'm not a fetish guy, but I greatly prefer the look of a barefoot chick to the look of a chick in heels. I think heels look stupid; to me, the effect is similar to the effect of a girl wearing a shit-ton of makeup.

 

All my friends, male and femail, think high heels are sexy, but i just think they are a health hazard, and the western equivalent of oriental foot-binding.
I wonder how on earth they ever got started? Someone, somewhere, must have been the first to wear them, and they triggered something fundamental in the female psyche, as they are never out of fashion.

 

Amen, brother! There's nothing that makes an otherwise graceful and elegant person look more awkward and pretentious than some sort of ridiculous footwear!