Pet peeves

I was just wondering when it comes to going barefoot if any members of this forum have any pet peeves? My two biggest ones would have to be dodging animal waste and human saliva. I'd be interested to hear what drives other members crazy.

 

Homeless people who consider themselves superior to anyone who isn't wearing shoes.

 

Listening to people talk about how they can't go out barefoot because it isn't allowed/tolerated where they live.

That was my perspective as well until I actually gave it a try. The reality is that most people don't care. They may give an odd look or ask a stupid question, but I've had 99.5%+ success entering places without shoes (weather permitting, not in winter). Those who've objected are doing so more out of ignorance than anything else. They're few and far between.

 

People making comments such as: aren't your feet cold?, that must hurt walking around like that or the one that really irks me is that they feel going barefoot is disgusting. I can think of a whole lot worse habits than letting your feet perform the way God intended.

Shoddies, uhh :banghead:

 

When I'm strolling barefoot around the city in the summertime I'll often run into someone who will ask what happened to my shoes. I find they become almost sympathetic when I tell them somebody stole them. Of course that only happened to me once.

I am also in agreement with you that there are worse habits than letting your feet perform the way God intended.

 

people who don't shut up. "Doesn't that hurt? Isn't it hot?"

 

I have deformed feet.
They change colours.
People flip out about me being barefoot.
FUCK OFF, SO WHAT IF I HAVE RAINBOW FEET?

 

OK, some of my pet peeves about going barefoot? Hmmmm. Ok here are my top 10, in no particular order...

01. People who tell me it's gross that the bottoms of my feet are dirty
02. Pig headed managers who want to kick me out of their store for not having shoes
03. Having to use a port-a-potty, especially at hippie festivals
04. Cold, wet grass in the early morning
05. Being in an upscale place w/o shoes and having everyone stare at my feet
06. Walking into an area where idiots broke lots of bottles
07. People who ask me if I'm cold in the winter time
08. Customers who report me to a manager, just because I have no shoes
09. People who ask "Where are your shoes?" in front of other people
10. Little kids who say, "Mommy, why doesn't he have any shoes on?" repeatedly.

 

The worst is the sheer hostility of people against bare feet. I've heard much about the people in the US getting told in various quite aggressive ways to put shoes on their feet, even here in the Netherlands I've had a couple times when people started yelling and cussing and screaming (literally) just because I was walking barefoot, not even in their store but on the street. Twitter regularly has posts like 'They shuda stepped on her toes' [sp] and such like. Dirt, even dog poo, spit and chewing gum I can deal with but hostility at that level is not cool...

I can't really understand it either. I mean, I don't like the way everything looks -in my opinion, most high heels and platforms are ugly, wetlook gel is gross, and if you take a look at peopleofwalmart you'll find examples of people who take comfort in clothing really a bit too far even to my relaxed standards. But never, no matter how fugly the choice of clothing or hairdo, do I feel even the slightest sense of violence, the slightest urge to rip the offending piece of clothing off and/or tear it to pieces, or to yell at them for wearing it. *I* don't have to wear it, if they want to look that way that's totally up to them, and why or how does that affect me?

A related pet peeve is the ignorance about going barefoot. No, bare feet are not illegal regardless of whether any place of business sells food or not. No, driving barefoot is not illegal. No, germs aren't going to leap off a bare sole any more than off the sole of a shoe. No, we don't get sliced to ribbons if there may be a small piece of glass laying around somewhere... It's annoying when people swallow all these myths hook, line and sinker, and I firmly believe that the ignorance is in large part responsible for the hostility. Because in the Netherlands we don't have those myths that it's illegal, against health dept rules, etc, and here I've only run into a few people who got really angry at the very sight of my feet in all the years of walking barefoot. Most of my 'encounters' are online -with US residents.

 

Yeah, I've experienced this one, LOL. What can you say? Kids are kids and they're going to ask questions. I always try to act like I didn't hear. The reality is that I'm more concerned the mother or father will take offense. The kid's just doing whatever's instinctive.

 

Yeah, but it makes no sense sometimes. I mean when I was like 4 or 5 I didn't know the difference between a sweater and a jacket or shorts and underwear...lol So why would a kid hat young even think it's strange if you don't have shoes? Besides, I thought little kids are supposed to love being barefoot anyway.

 

I don't see why it's not more readily accepted. It seems strange that people are so ignorant towards people who go barefoot. Especially all the stupid questions that I get while I'm running. Jeez, it gets annoying.

 

Little kids would rather be barefoot. I have a 3-year-old niece who takes off her shoes as soon as she gets home from wherever my sister and/or her husband have been (store, doctor, etc.).

 

I'm with Myranya; the only thing that annoys me is openly hostile remarks and reactions. Children pointing out bare feet seems to me to be a normal reaction to something unusual in their environment. I generally respond to their question directly:

Child: "Mommy, why does that man have bare feet?"
Me: "Because I can"

I figure it gives them something to look forward to when they grow up.

 

Actually, when a kid aks that question really loudly, I love watching the parent think about trying to shrink and hide under the nearest gap in the store...lol

 

I had it happen to me once when standing in line at K-mart. The kid actually said, "Mommy, why must I keep my shoes on? He has no shoes". The mother replied loud enough for the other customers in line to hear, "Because, do you want to walk around with dirty feet like that?". I was so embarrased, I could hear other people snickering.

 

"10. Little kids who say, "Mommy, why doesn't he have any shoes on?" repeatedly"
This is probably because mom just spent 20 minuted fighting with the child to put their shoes on.

 

winter

 

That was pretty rude of the mother. I would have probably questioned her about the appropriateness of her comment and if she thinks it's good to encourage her kids that's it's acceptable to embarrass others in public. I'd be firm, not offensive, but definitely loud enough that she'd know I didn't appreciate her comment and that the embarrassment would be put on her.

 

One of my pet peeves is when I interact with someone who tells me that they used to go barefoot. I ask them why they don't now, and they start to cite the reasons of injury and that they're not tough enough. If they did it before, why can't they do it again?