Barefoot Random Thoughts

What kind of career is reserved for barefooters? The obvious ones are e.g. self-employed, home office or being a celebrity with barefoot cult status... I guess, no one has thought about a criminal with bare feet becoming his trade mark and making him kind of an urban folk hero so far...

http://newsbizarre.com/2009/10/colton-harris-moore-barefoot-burglar.html

Wiggling non-criminal toes,

~*Ganesha*~

 

Hmm, sounds cool. Wonder if, when they catch him, they'll make him ink his feet for prints instead of finger prints?

 

I hope he doesn't give us a bad name...

 

pffffft... Typical arrogant piggy-type response. As if he has any choice about the mythos of a folk hero.

I sincerely doubt that Mr. Harris-Moore's exploits will reflect negatively upon barefooters as a whole. On the contrary, if he plays his cards right and exploits his cultural status, he may very well help romanticize barefooting, thereby purchasing popularity for the practice in a way previously unattainable.

 

I agree the barefoot part, more than a crime spree, seems to be whats propelling this whole thing.

 

Weird. I can't believe he hasn't been caught. They have his picture, toe prints and everything. I hadn't heard of this until I read about it here, so I doubt most people have heard of it. I don't think this individual will bring a negative view on barefooters.

 

I don't think so either. I think he might make more people see the freedom that is in being barefoot, even though he's going about expressing his freedom in the wrong way.

 

Why do people stop going barefoot?

I was thinking about this given it's too friggin' cold to go outside. It won't "warm up" to freezing until Friday. Anyhow, here's what led to my question.

• This summer we went to dinner with another couple and their daughter. At some point during the conversation, my friend's wife made a comment about how as a kid she used to be barefoot all summer and thought nothing of running across the hot pavement without shoes.
• I was at a friend's house a few weeks ago and was wearing my Vibrams. That led to a discussion of shoes in general. Two of the people commented that they like wearing shoes and that their feet feel better in shoes (I certainly can't relate to that!). They were sort of shocked when they saw the "barefoot contours" of the Vibrams. One woman talked about how she grew up in Phoenix and would be barefoot in the summer and would run from shade-to-shade to keep her feet cool.
• A good friend of mine has commented on numerous occasions that she never wore shoes as a kid. She laughs and says that if you look at old vacation pictures you'll see her barefoot front-and-center!

So what made these people stop? The first woman wears sandals pretty much all the time when it's warm. The second person wears lace-up shoes/boots all the time. The third person still goes barefoot, but restricts it to the privacy of her home. But why?

My wife talks about how she and her friends were constantly barefoot when she was a kid in Oklahoma. They'd go everywhere without shoes. She said one day they were told at a restaurant that they had to wear shoes and that was the end of it.

I remember back in the late 60's/early 70's that bare feet were associated with hippies. The old-school "establishment" (remember that word 60's people?) couldn't stand hippies. It was about that time that "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service" signs first started to appear. I'm wondering if the people above changed their barefoot ways as a result? I may pursue this the next time it comes up, but for now do others have an opinion/comment?

I've gotta admit there are times I wish I has something on my feet when I'm walking across non-barefoot friendly surfaces (e.g., old, uneven, deteriorating asphalt with gravel poking up), but otherwise I'll take going barefoot over shoes most any time. I also know a lot of people ask about "arch support" when looking at my Vibrams or flip-flops. I don't know if I have unusually healthy feet, but arch supports have never been an issue for me. In fact, I wondering if being barefoot might strengthen the arches. Thoughts?

 

people seeks not just protection in shoes... they seek refuge.

 

Very enlightning post Straittoes.

All too often I hear comments from grown adults how they lived their childhood and teen life barefoot. It appears once these individuals reached adulthood they feel they must once and for all stop the silly notion of going barefoot. My guess is now it all comes down to folllowing the social norms of society. Sad.

I do feel that going barefoot definately does help strengthen your arches, as constant everday shoe wearing contributes the muscles in feet to atrophy to an extent. Quite often I see an infocommercial showing a podiatrist selling an arch support that claims to help fallen weak arches gain support. Thinking to myself, if folks just went barefoot more, these arches would strenghten naturally, no in turn you would'nt need a product such as this. Going barefoot more? Surely you jest! Just a way of making profits instead of doing something that comes so natural for the feet and we all know what that is and how healthy that can be.

 

Society has changed. Where I live (southern US, mid-sized city) it is never socially acceptable to go barefoot in public. Not true when I was growing up. Now, when a rare individual attempts it here, it is viewed as showing disrespect for the majority, who find it to be disgusting, rude, and uncivilized. I think those people are nuts, but I know I can't win the battle, so I don't fight it. I wear flip-flops when I go out, and I leave them at the front door when I return.

 

Hi Karen_J! I haven't seen your name in these parts much. Welcome!!

If you don't mind, where in the south are you located? I'm not questionning your statement, just curious. I've visited the New Orleans/Baton Rouge, LA area and found people don't even seem to notice I'm barefoot. I've casually entered restaurants there and been seated without comment and the staff never even glanced down. When I've gone barefoot in North Carolina I've gotten a couple of awkward glances, but no hassles. Geography seems to play a big role in barefoot acceptance/tolerance in the U.S.

 

Thanks for your PM answer Karen_J!!

 

I can't honestly say that I qualify as a barefooter anymore, but I do sympathize with the cause. I think everybody ought to have the freedom to do and wear (or not wear) pretty much whatever they want, as long as it isn't causing a problem for anybody else. Some of the barefoot restrictions that you guys talk about here sound totally absurd and pointless to me.

I have read some of the posts here about silly questions and comments that you guys have received from those who don't approve of what you are doing. I had to laugh, because people say the same things to me about wearing flip-flops on all but the coldest days of the year. The self-appointed shoe police isn't going to be satisfied until you get your feet out of sight!

My grandparents grew up in a time when most children in the South were not allowed by their parents to wear shoes in summer. It was considered wasteful and pointless. If they were alive today, they would find it very strange that going without shoes in warm weather has become controversial.

 

People may agree with this, maybe not, but I'm going to make a suggestion...

A lot of what I feel was the interesting content of this forum got diluted when one person became obsessed with posting new, pointless threads over-and-over. I realized how bad this had become yesterday when I was searching for one of the old topics. I was on page 9 and still hadn't found it.

Various members of this forum likely have favorite threads they liked seeing. What I'm suggesting is moving these to the front pages. How to do this? If there's an old thread you enjoyed, just post to it. The entry could be something as simple as, "I enjoyed reading this thread." That will bring it to the top of the first page. As far as the creation of new threads, I think that's great. One person just got carried away with it and seems to have ruined the experience for the rest of the members.

Maybe you agree with what I'm suggesting, maybe not. I have no control of this forum or any other; I'm a member with the same status as everyone else. I'd like everyone to be free to post whatever, whenever. I even defended the right of the one member responsible for the onslaught of postings; I just suggested he limit the number of new threads so others would have ideas on the first pages. Unfortunately, that member attacked me, both in his postings and in a PM.

Anyhow, hopefully that's behind us. If you'd like to see an interesting thread reappear, please make a simple post to it so it will get the attention it deserves.

Thanks!

StraightToes

 

This is a public forum. The forum belongs to neither you nor me. I regret the extent to which you believe you own this forum. You don't. If you have to look for something, look for it. NONE of this is crucial to anybody's life. If you lose a few minutes looking for something, that's life in a public forum. Public: you AND others. "L'enfer: c'est les autres." As well, your posting frequency substantially exceeds mine. Unhappily, a "flamer" (Alexandra, are you out there?) turned this site momentarily toxic. Which is really too bad. This site is SUPPOSED to be FUN, not doggedly dogmatic, rule-laden, or gushing ill will. Those who have objected to my posts have spoken up. It's a public forum. Those who have enjoyed my posts and responded to them have done so. It's a public forum. There are barefoot sites that have become very institutional---owned and operated by a self-selected few. HipForums should be the alternative to that---HIP: open, experimental.

 

Everyone should go barefoot... I wish I could 24/7!

 

I think somewhere in one of the threads was a link to some lady who wrote a tirade about how disgusting New Zealanders are because a larg number of them go barefoot to malls and work, etc. Well it appears there is justice in the world. She had written and allowed the letter to be posted in a magazine. A potential employer read it and refused to offer her an appointment......hehe

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3203837/Attack-on-shoeless-Kiwis-costs-lecturer-job

 

Thanks for the link, hillman!

What an unmitigated idiot. With individuals like this serving as staff for a major university, it's no wonder that the American educational system is in disarray.

 

Some positive news: In yesterday's Parade magazine that appears in many Sunday papers, there was an article by Christopher McDougall about barefoot running that puts it in a positive light.

http://www.parade.com/health/2010/01/03-barefoot-running.html