My wife and I like to ride bikes to a cool little town 12 miles from our house occasionally and enjoy lunch or whatever before heading back for the ride home. One of our favorite spots there is a restaurant with indoor table seating and a bar as well as an outside deck featuring tables and it's own Tiki style bar complete with a half dozen frozen drink machines and a tropical vibe. On a warm sunny day one could swear you are in Florida at a beach-side joint so long as you pretend that the cars zooming by are really boats. As expected, nobody there ever has a problem with our bare feet.
A few weeks ago when Diane was out of town I ended up riding there solo, and while seated at the outdoor bar ended up discussing barefoot cycling/running/living with three of the young women who were working the shift. One thought it was interesting but not for her, another was currently running in VFF's and enjoying the experience, and a third said she would love to try running barefoot since she doesn't really get much exercise and it sounded like a fun way to get started.
She said that she loves going barefoot, always does at home, and stated that she would go barefoot in a minute at work if only they would let her. She was wearing lightweight stretchy ultra minimalist flats at the time. She related how the waitstaff used to be allowed to wear flip flops while on duty but after one girl dropped a full keg of beer on her foot and was severely injured closed shoes became mandatory. I mentioned how her thin elastic rimmed slippers wouldn't have helped at all in that situation, and she agreed that it was a silly move to make them cover up supposedly as an attempt to prevent injury. I gave her the URL's for the SBL, the BRS, Dr. Daniel Howell's sites, as well as Ahcuah's blog and also explained that OSHA really doesn't even require footwear PERIOD for restaurant staff but merely insists that employers make available protective footwear IF they have determined that there is a reasonable risk of injury without them. I could tell that she totally got it, and thought that just maybe she would end up getting in some cardio via barefoot running as a result of our conversation.
Today Diane and I both had the day off and ended up riding there together. After leaning the bikes on the rail and hanging up the helmets and headsweats to dry we were seated outside and eventually served by a waitperson.
After a few minutes I saw the original barefoot wannabe waitress from the last visit walk up to a table close to us and take an order, and in her Summery top and short shorts it was hard not to notice her bare feet! So hard that within microseconds of my noticing Diane said "Whoa, did you see her?"
We watched as she walked back inside, went behind the bar, walked to a table, came back outside, brought drinks to the table, went behind the outdoor Tiki bar, back to a table, etc., all in full barefooter confidence never once looking down to see where her feet were stepping.
I of course thought pretty much out loud "How cool is THAT! A couple of weeks ago I give some info and insight to a late twenties/early thirties restaurant worker who likes going barefoot and here she has not only taken the plunge, but has convinced her boss to set aside the closed shoe rule as well! "
Rapidly gliding from table to table and bar to bar in barefoot bliss she had really come a long way in just a few short weeks.
Plenty of customers, numerous shod co-workers, and look at her. LOOK AT HER!
Being barefoot, white bearded, and just being Longboard himself I have learned over the years that plenty of people remember me, and she did. She smiled and waived as soon as she saw us. Busy with several tables I knew that as soon as she had a few seconds she was going to stop by to thank me for having motivated her to "just do it". She must have been REALLY busy though, because even as she smiled and acknowledged us over and over she never did bounce over to our table with mid-foot landings to say "thank you, Thank You!, THANK YOU!!
After a while I sensed that something must not be quite right, and eventually I motioned her over. "You're doing GREAT, look at you, barefoot on the job! Congratulations! Have you been running as well?"
And her response: "Yeah, too bad my boss doesn't allow it."
So Diane asked her "As soon as he gets here you have to put shoes on?"
"No, I always need shoes while working. A few minutes ago there was an accident in back and an entire container full of Ranch dressing fell on my feet and my shoes got completely slammed with the stuff. As soon as I get a chance I'm going to my car to get my new toe shoes from my trunk that I bought to try running in and I'll have to wear them the rest of the day"
Soon she did, but for about 15 minutes I thought I had single handedly converted an impressionable young person to barefoot running, living, and working who herself had then succeeded in successfully re-training her boss.
It WAS a fun 15 minutes just the same!
A few weeks ago when Diane was out of town I ended up riding there solo, and while seated at the outdoor bar ended up discussing barefoot cycling/running/living with three of the young women who were working the shift. One thought it was interesting but not for her, another was currently running in VFF's and enjoying the experience, and a third said she would love to try running barefoot since she doesn't really get much exercise and it sounded like a fun way to get started.
She said that she loves going barefoot, always does at home, and stated that she would go barefoot in a minute at work if only they would let her. She was wearing lightweight stretchy ultra minimalist flats at the time. She related how the waitstaff used to be allowed to wear flip flops while on duty but after one girl dropped a full keg of beer on her foot and was severely injured closed shoes became mandatory. I mentioned how her thin elastic rimmed slippers wouldn't have helped at all in that situation, and she agreed that it was a silly move to make them cover up supposedly as an attempt to prevent injury. I gave her the URL's for the SBL, the BRS, Dr. Daniel Howell's sites, as well as Ahcuah's blog and also explained that OSHA really doesn't even require footwear PERIOD for restaurant staff but merely insists that employers make available protective footwear IF they have determined that there is a reasonable risk of injury without them. I could tell that she totally got it, and thought that just maybe she would end up getting in some cardio via barefoot running as a result of our conversation.
Today Diane and I both had the day off and ended up riding there together. After leaning the bikes on the rail and hanging up the helmets and headsweats to dry we were seated outside and eventually served by a waitperson.
After a few minutes I saw the original barefoot wannabe waitress from the last visit walk up to a table close to us and take an order, and in her Summery top and short shorts it was hard not to notice her bare feet! So hard that within microseconds of my noticing Diane said "Whoa, did you see her?"
We watched as she walked back inside, went behind the bar, walked to a table, came back outside, brought drinks to the table, went behind the outdoor Tiki bar, back to a table, etc., all in full barefooter confidence never once looking down to see where her feet were stepping.
I of course thought pretty much out loud "How cool is THAT! A couple of weeks ago I give some info and insight to a late twenties/early thirties restaurant worker who likes going barefoot and here she has not only taken the plunge, but has convinced her boss to set aside the closed shoe rule as well! "
Rapidly gliding from table to table and bar to bar in barefoot bliss she had really come a long way in just a few short weeks.
Plenty of customers, numerous shod co-workers, and look at her. LOOK AT HER!
Being barefoot, white bearded, and just being Longboard himself I have learned over the years that plenty of people remember me, and she did. She smiled and waived as soon as she saw us. Busy with several tables I knew that as soon as she had a few seconds she was going to stop by to thank me for having motivated her to "just do it". She must have been REALLY busy though, because even as she smiled and acknowledged us over and over she never did bounce over to our table with mid-foot landings to say "thank you, Thank You!, THANK YOU!!
After a while I sensed that something must not be quite right, and eventually I motioned her over. "You're doing GREAT, look at you, barefoot on the job! Congratulations! Have you been running as well?"
And her response: "Yeah, too bad my boss doesn't allow it."
So Diane asked her "As soon as he gets here you have to put shoes on?"
"No, I always need shoes while working. A few minutes ago there was an accident in back and an entire container full of Ranch dressing fell on my feet and my shoes got completely slammed with the stuff. As soon as I get a chance I'm going to my car to get my new toe shoes from my trunk that I bought to try running in and I'll have to wear them the rest of the day"
Soon she did, but for about 15 minutes I thought I had single handedly converted an impressionable young person to barefoot running, living, and working who herself had then succeeded in successfully re-training her boss.
It WAS a fun 15 minutes just the same!
