LIAR!

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May 13, 2010
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Last week on a cold wet windy day I stopped in at a big new LA Fitness facility here in Michigan to inquire about membership. When I resisted the car salesman-like "this offer is only good today" tactic and refused to answer the "how soon you thinking about joining up?" routine they issued me a two day guest pass which I did not have the opportunity to use. I figured they would get back with me, and before the two days expired they gave me a call. I told them I was ready to sign up on the spot, provided they could assure me I would be free to treadmill barefoot. The local VP for the state deferred to corporate, and just as I was finishing a great warm dry & sunny outdoor run today I got a call from Irvine CA.
"Can't do, we had a guy here catch a disease from using a treadmill after another guy was running on it barefoot"
I told him that I would love to get that info to the researchers studying this stuff because they have been unable to document an instance and would love to finally have proof, but he said they no longer have the guys name or contact info.
LIAR!
 
"Can't do, we had a guy here catch a disease from using a treadmill after another guy was running on it barefoot"
So the guy catching the disease was also barefoot on the treadmill? And what kind of disease did he catch? Where is the proof that he caught this disease, whatever is was, on the treadmill and not in the shower, toilet or the cloak room?
 
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So the guy catching the disease was also barefoot on the treadmill? And what kind of disease did he catch? Where is the proof that he caught this disease, whatever is was, on the treadmill and not in the shower, toilet or the cloak room?

I was at a restaurant with my wife a few years ago and when I tried to get the owner/manager to cut us a break he was very apologetic but said " Just two weeks ago the health department inspector was in here and there were two barefoot people eating and he gave us a warning. He said the next time we will be charged with a violation"
When I expressed doubt in his story he said "Oh, so you're calling me a liar?"
I looked him straight in the eye and said "Yes, I'm calling you a liar. You know perfectly well that you just made up that story and are lying" It wasn't a place worth going back to anyways.
 
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My wife has a doctor's note and her health club honors it. New trainers always try to stop her, and some other members always complain, but her note eventually wins out. The doc won't write me one though because he knows I will end up dragging him into a lawsuit eventually. When he wrote hers he had no idea how much barefoot rights activism I had been involved in.
It's VERY difficult to find a doctor willing to go on record prescribing true barefoot activity.
 
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The reality here is its about keeping the complainers happy...meaning the shoddies who complain about the barefooters. The barefooters are a very very tiny amount of customers so their dollars amount to basically nothing to the owners of these business's...fair or not that's the way it is. They will lie plenty to get you to go away and quit bothering them and bow down to where the money is....that's their job barefoot or not. I think its a matter of going above the local persons head like i've seen some posts here...to get some success.
 
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The reality here is its about keeping the complainers happy...meaning the shoddies who complain about the barefooters.
I think you might be right. But I wonder why it is that the shoddies complain about the barefooters? I mean as long as one's feet are clean there is nothing to complain about?
 
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I think you might be right. But I wonder why it is that the shoddies complain about the barefooters? I mean as long as one's feet are clean there is nothing to complain about?
I think it's because shod feet smell, and they make the leap in assuming it's in the nature of feet to smell. Plus lots of historical and cultural reasons (classism, conformism, tropes of heavenly grace/earthly sin, and so on), but I think smell is at the heart of it.

It really is ironic in a gym though, where people expose a lot of their skin, sweat profusely, and often smell of BO.

Just the other day I was waiting for a light to change in front of a SNAP fitness center's storefront window, right in front of the treadmills. I couldn't help but smirk. Poor bastards, "come out and embrace the elements," I thought. One attractive woman had a look of horror when I glanced inside.

But man, it really is amazing how people will just lie to you. Like if you're delusional enough to go barefoot, you probably won't notice, right? Or maybe it's just that people lie all the time no matter what. Way to call out the liars Alan!
 
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It's funny how shoes create dependency on them in so many ways. Because shodden feet become stinky, people feel we need to keep them in shoes to contain the stink. Because shodden feet develop athlete's foot, people feel we need to keep them in shoes to avoid transmission between people's feet. Because shoes weaken feet and make them sensitive to stimulus, people feel we need shoes to protect them. Because shoes became associated with wealth and then later on shoelessness became associated with poverty, people feel they need shoes not to look poor. Because of all those, many people tend to see feet as ugly, dirty, stinky, prone to disease or affliction, markers of economic class.

In some ways, here in America, I suspect there will only become a widespread and strong cultural movement towards being barefoot if going barefoot became associated with being wealthy. I really don't know if there is any realistic prospect of that. Or if somehow the strong current of classism in American thought were to disappear, and again, I really don't know if there is any realistic prospect of that. Impoverished people are so often looked down upon, or if given help, given help in very condescending ways.
 
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I think it's more just ignorance. People will state their reasons as smell or infectious diseases, whereas in all likelihood, the only smelly or diseased feet are those encased in shoes that never get aired out.

People may also tend to project their own insecurities. For example, "my feet are ugly, smelly, and I'm embarrassed of them and like to hide them, so you can't go barefoot either".
 
But I wonder why it is that the shoddies complain about the barefooters? I mean as long as one's feet are clean there is nothing to complain about?
From the Wall Street Journal:
Runners such as Mr. Adler blame widespread anti-foot bias. Gym members opposed to their shoeless counterparts have "just accepted all their life that that's how feet are, that feet are these disgusting, germy things," he says.
 
....... in front of a SNAP fitness center's storefront window, right in front of the treadmills. I couldn't help but smirk. Poor bastards, "come out and embrace the elements," I thought. One attractive woman had a look of horror when I glanced inside.

I never thought of that, but a large % of those members are the people that use the club treadmill year round even in the most beautiful weather in an area ideal for running.
Guess it makes perfect sense that they always wear shoes or slippers in their homes and would never let their sole touch the floor while changing.
They can't imagine a person even THINKING about doing what we do!
 
I never thought of that, but a large % of those members are the people that use the club treadmill year round even in the most beautiful weather in an area ideal for running.
Guess it makes perfect sense that they always wear shoes or slippers in their homes and would never let their sole touch the floor while changing.
They can't imagine a person even THINKING about doing what we do!
Yah, I think machines attract a certain kind of plug-n-play person. While some runners like you may only use treadmills when the weather turns harsh, there are folks who like the convenience, measurability, orderliness, and regularity of machine-based workouts, whether on treadmills, ellipticals, Nautilus-type resistance apparatuses, or whathaveyou. The idea of going out and exploring a new route, not know exactly how long it will take, or what to expect along the way, would be as utterly foreign to this type of (tight-assed) person as walking around the house slipperlessly.
 
Yesterday it rained the entire day and we had severe wind warnings, lots of power out here. Today it's dry, but it's still blowing 25 knots or more and is only in the 40's F with no sun.
I hate the treadmill as well as the gym, but I still can't get myself to go for a run in these conditions.
The indoor cardio crowd never takes their earbuds out either, I wish they would just zone out to the point that they no longer care.
 
About 8 years or so ago, I used to belong to our local YMCA. I knew someone who worked there and they convinced the powers that be to allow me to run barefoot on their track. (I think it helped that our local Executive Director of the YMCA was born and raised in South Africa.)
I used to run there several times a week. The problem was, I only used the track when the weather was bad - otherwise I ran outside. So sometimes it would be months in between visits to the Y and invariably there'd be a new trainer on duty and I'd have to explain all over again how I had permission to run barefoot. It got to be a hassle. I didn't really like running in circles anyway. The track was 20 laps/mile, so a five-mile run was enough to make you dizzy. So I just convinced myself to run outside all the time. Saved the cost of the mebership too. Sure I miss a run occasionally when the weather's really crappy, but it's still better than dealing with all the hassle at the gym.
 
You know what I do, when the weather outside is really bad?
I jog slowly around my kitchen table: One round is about 10 meters (more or less). I change direction every 5 minutes: thus no dizziness and not too much stress on the ankles, but the small circles are tiring in their own way. I do this for an hour minimum. Obviously no speed work, but it's great to try out new breathing rhythms and to work on correct posture ...
And if the kitchen floor has some hardened crumbs from last breakfast on it, it even becomes an interesting training tool for barefooting! :p
 
I grew up delivering newspapers, so I was vaccinated against harsh weather.

I ran inside once, on a 1/8 mile track.

Once.

I think I was running the wrong way too.

I couldn't figure out why the other guy on the track kept trying to bump into me coming the other way.

Only later did I realize the asshole was me.

Running outside by myself, I'm never an asshole.

Yet another perk.

In addition to the exhilaration and vitality that comes from embracing the elements.

You know what I do, when the weather outside is really bad?
I jog slowly around my kitchen table: One round is about 10 meters (more or less). I change direction every 5 minutes: thus no dizziness and not too much stress on the ankles, but the small circles are tiring in their own way. I do this for an hour minimum. Obviously no speed work, but it's great to try out new breathing rhythms and to work on correct posture ...
And if the kitchen floor has some hardened crumbs from last breakfast on it, it even becomes an interesting training tool for barefooting! :p
Hobbit, that's nuts!
 
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My wife splurged and bought a treadmill for at home for when the weather turns really bad. Needless to say I haven't had to use it yet.
Haven't had an issue at the YMCA I use with my barefootedness on the treadmill yet, but I haven't been there for a while.

I guess I am lucky.