Letter from Borders Bookstores

I was reprimanded in the Albany Borders bookstore for being barefoot, and wrote a letter to the corporation.

I was told that I can shop barefoot, there is no corporate policy, and if I ever get hassled to talk the the individual store's General Manager. Also, the Albany store was contacted with regard to this complaint.

The downside is that they said should there be a health, safety, or other issue they can start a policy in the future. I don't know what they mean, but "health, safety, or other" sounds pretty open-ended to me.

To keep up some sorta momentum, it might be cool to have others write to them requesting a hard copy of the policy. Kinda show them that yes, there is a significant amount of barefooters out there!

 

Other would be the rancid stench of unwashed hippie feet.

 

But what if I DO wash them? There, I said it.

Seriously though, bare feet don't smell. It's shoes that keep anaerobic bacteria thriving that do it. If your feet produce 2 cups of sweat per day, and you constantly wear shoes...*ick*

 

The only thing that makes feet smell rancid is shoes; with barefeet, you got a constant acquirement and loss of particles. This keeps their smelliness down to a minimum; not to mention, it actually protects our feet from bacteria.

I should write a few stores; I hate being ushered out just because I'm not going to be a dumbass and step on some glass or something and then sue the business. But, there are people out there who do that; which is why I experience prejudice. It's so annoying...

 

I think what would help alot of businesses is if the business gets sued and when they go to court and win then they can turn around and sue whoever tried to sue them in the first place. That would really discourage alot of people for sueing the business for hurting themselves when they go barefoot. Also they should have warnings that if you go barefoot you do so at your own risk so if the person hurts themselves the business can just shrug their shoulders and say hey we warned you.

 

It's funny how people who're concerned about the smell of bare feet still think everything is okay as soon as someone wears flipflops or sandals. Maybe they believe there's some kind of invisible, air-tight barrier in between the straps that keeps the smell (that obviously must be there, because 'everybody knows' feet smell bad) inside? Yeah, right!

 

They never gave me a problem a my Borders...
Good thing, too.
I like buying there.

 

I actually went to borders bookstore barefoot yesaterday, and no one said or did anything about it.

Pretty cool.

 

I actually dont think the bookstore has a barefoot policy, I bet that guy in Albany was giving a bunch of bull to you.

 

I've never had problems at Barnes and Noble going barefoot.

 

That's called a "loser pays" system, and it's in place in some locations. (I don't know if it's anywhere in the U.S., though.)

It means that if you take someone to court, and you fail to win the case, you have to pay the legal costs of the person you sued.

It sounds like a good system, because we desperately need to stop the ABSURD tide of idiotic, frivolous, and malicious lawsuits that abound in this country.

But then you realize that not all cases that lose really merited losing. What if you do bring a suit against someone, and through some snafu you lose? Some idiot juror will not find in your favor even though your case is airtight (or some other problem in court)? And then you have to pay the other guy's legal fees? This kind of policy could have a chilling effect on even righteous lawsuits.

And, what if you're just "the little guy," suing some giant corporation, like Walmart? And they send in a team of six lawyers and every day in court for them costs tens of thousands of dollars. By the end of the trial they have legal fees in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and since they're high powered corporate lawyers, they find a way to beat your legitimate tort. Now you're on the hook for major moolah?

That sounds like just as horrible a system as what we have now.

-Jeffrey

 

I've been to Books-A-Million in West Palm Beach (which, sadly, closed down a few years ago) barefoot plenty of times and never was given a problem.

I went into a Barnes and Noble here in West Palm Beach once or twice barefoot (I don't remember, but I might have been carrying my flipflops at the time) and no problem. I also went into a B&N in Stuart, FL last week barefoot, toward the last half hour or so of business, and no problem there, either. There were lots of customers lounging around, at tables here and there, and in the cafe area (that's where I was).

Sounds like bookstores in general are reasonably okay about it. That's something to be thankful for.


-Jeffrey

 

Just a regional problem, I guess. Seems that the Northeast U.S. is absolutely the most puritan, backwards, downright Victorian place in the world. Won't stop me, though