Hi everybody,
I have heard about some of you folks out there who go barefoot at work. Right now I'm working for an accounting company that, as far as I know, requires business casual attire. I really don't see why anybody would have a problem with me going barefoot here, other than, of course, the "image" of being professional or whatever my employers want to preserve.
I've actually been wearing SoftStar Moc 3s for the past two months to the office everyday. I keep trying to convince myself that minimalist shoes are better than regular, but in my experience they really haven't been. They still aggravate my hip and knee even while walking.
Honestly, I think I noticed joint pain while walking even before I noticed it while running. Granted, this was at a time when I wasn't running (at all, really,) just walking a lot everyday to my classes while I was away at school. Then I ended up transferring to another college because I wanted to get back into running competitively (I ran track in high school), and that's when the pain really became a problem. I thought to myself "why am I, a healthy 20 year old who has always been an athletic person, unable to do the most natural thing there is, running, without having debilitating pain?"
It literally made no sense to me.
This was my train of thought at the time: The only two things that can be changed in this running equation are: 1. the surface I'm running on and: 2. the things that are between me and that surface.
So, and I'm pretty proud of this, I came to the conclusion that the shoes must be the problem, on my own! No lie, I walked into my coaches office one day and I said, "Coach Ayer, I don't know what else to try, I got new shoes, I tried orthotics (I know everyone says this, but yes, I went to a podiatrist and paid "only" ~250 dollars-college discount he said, haha!- for a pair of half inch thick rock solid plastic molds for my feet,) I just don't know what else I can possibly do, I think I'm going to start running barefoot." It seemed simple enough to me. I had nothing to lose, I couldn't run at all without pain at the time. I had never even heard of the idea, or any book, or any minimalist shoes.
And what do you know? I swear he says, "I actually have a book you might find interesting," and walks over to his bookshelf and pulls out, you guessed it, Born to Run. He said, "This guy wrote a book about...."
So I start reading and of course I'm all pumped because it was like reading my own thoughts on a page. I swear that happened a lot during college.
So yeah, here I am today. Sorry, for the backstory.
Anyway, what kind of jobs do you all have (if these exist) that allow you to go barefoot daily? It has become quite a big problem for me and I really dread going to work simply because I know I am going to have to wear shoes.
Honestly, I don't plan on working a conventional 9 to 5 office job for a very long period of time in my life. At this point though, money is pretty necessary, so I am very curious about the work life of those here at BRS.
Also, is anybody familiar with "normal" regulations down in some of the southern states regarding footwear? I think a couple people have told me that in places like Florida, you can go into pretty much any stores barefoot and it is allowed. I am seriously considering moving some place where barefoot is normal so I don't have to deal with this kind of stuff.
Thanks for any ideas you all have.
I have heard about some of you folks out there who go barefoot at work. Right now I'm working for an accounting company that, as far as I know, requires business casual attire. I really don't see why anybody would have a problem with me going barefoot here, other than, of course, the "image" of being professional or whatever my employers want to preserve.
I've actually been wearing SoftStar Moc 3s for the past two months to the office everyday. I keep trying to convince myself that minimalist shoes are better than regular, but in my experience they really haven't been. They still aggravate my hip and knee even while walking.
Honestly, I think I noticed joint pain while walking even before I noticed it while running. Granted, this was at a time when I wasn't running (at all, really,) just walking a lot everyday to my classes while I was away at school. Then I ended up transferring to another college because I wanted to get back into running competitively (I ran track in high school), and that's when the pain really became a problem. I thought to myself "why am I, a healthy 20 year old who has always been an athletic person, unable to do the most natural thing there is, running, without having debilitating pain?"
It literally made no sense to me.
This was my train of thought at the time: The only two things that can be changed in this running equation are: 1. the surface I'm running on and: 2. the things that are between me and that surface.
So, and I'm pretty proud of this, I came to the conclusion that the shoes must be the problem, on my own! No lie, I walked into my coaches office one day and I said, "Coach Ayer, I don't know what else to try, I got new shoes, I tried orthotics (I know everyone says this, but yes, I went to a podiatrist and paid "only" ~250 dollars-college discount he said, haha!- for a pair of half inch thick rock solid plastic molds for my feet,) I just don't know what else I can possibly do, I think I'm going to start running barefoot." It seemed simple enough to me. I had nothing to lose, I couldn't run at all without pain at the time. I had never even heard of the idea, or any book, or any minimalist shoes.
And what do you know? I swear he says, "I actually have a book you might find interesting," and walks over to his bookshelf and pulls out, you guessed it, Born to Run. He said, "This guy wrote a book about...."
So I start reading and of course I'm all pumped because it was like reading my own thoughts on a page. I swear that happened a lot during college.
So yeah, here I am today. Sorry, for the backstory.
Anyway, what kind of jobs do you all have (if these exist) that allow you to go barefoot daily? It has become quite a big problem for me and I really dread going to work simply because I know I am going to have to wear shoes.
Honestly, I don't plan on working a conventional 9 to 5 office job for a very long period of time in my life. At this point though, money is pretty necessary, so I am very curious about the work life of those here at BRS.
Also, is anybody familiar with "normal" regulations down in some of the southern states regarding footwear? I think a couple people have told me that in places like Florida, you can go into pretty much any stores barefoot and it is allowed. I am seriously considering moving some place where barefoot is normal so I don't have to deal with this kind of stuff.
Thanks for any ideas you all have.