So over 8 years ago I decided I didn't want to wear shoes anymore. I find footwear restricting, unnecessary and damaging to the foot and have been barefoot ever since. I often go running in all weathers over all terrains and have completed a few half marathons all barefoot. I drive, walk the dog, go shopping, go out to dinner, climb trees etc. There is pretty much nothing I've found in everyday life that I need shoes for. Unfortunately I often get talked about behind my back and laughed at a lot. I'm pretty used to it now and hear people's comments far less but my girlfriend hears a lot more and it winds her up that people think shoes are normal. People often ask me if my feet are cold and usually not. When you stop wearing shoes you adapt. Same with standing on normally uncomfortable surfaces. Shoes make your feet hyper sensitive and soft and vulnerable to injury. And then of course there is the issue of shoes making your feet smell because of all the sweat that produces a nice warm and damp environment for bacteria to thrive. I often get called disgusting, weird and dirty but how can that be when shoes are dirtier and more disgusting and when you think about it, weirder than being barefoot.
I never wear shoes. Why do so many people have a problem with this?
I wouldn't have a problem with it at all. People probably get grossed out because, when we sleep or reproduce, we usually have very clean feet, and shoes keep our feet relatively clean. They are probably just picturing what it would be like to sleep in the same bed as you. That part does bother me (do you wash your feet daily?), but leaving the house barefooted is something I don't mind at all.
Also, everyone knows that going barefooted hurts, so they make jokes about it because they think, "Why would any sane person put themselves through that much pain?" What they don't realize (like you've said) is that our feet do adapt to the environment, just like all the other parts of our body. When I was little and my friend pressured me to walk on gravel without shoes, I realized that it isn't so bad. And, not too long ago, I stood on tar for several minutes on a sunny day. The bottom of my feet turned brown, but it made my feet stronger, and I didn't mind the pain one bit.
I don't have an issue with people that walk barefooted. If they don't mind their feet freezing, burning, or getting splinters/cuts all the time, then it would be wrong to ask them not to go barefooted. People can do whatever they want, so long as it doesn't harm anyone else.
You mean to tell me that you actually go into restaurants with dirty filthy feet! Am more than surprised that any establishment would allow this extremely unhygienic act to take place.
The bottoms of your shoes would be dirtier than the soles of my feet. You probably have dog poo stuck in the tread of your shoes that has been festering there for weeks. How often do you wash your shoes? And who eats with their feet anyway?
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