Washington Post Story: "The War On Shoes"

[Barefoot Larry]

This story is from the Washington Post .The Author is encouraging notes on barefoot running.

blog.washingtonpost.com/story-lab/2010/10/build-a-story_the_war_on_shoes.html

Here is that article:



The other day, at lunch, my companion told me something shocking: Joggers are jogging without shoes.

This was surprising for two reasons. One: My wife had just seen a woman running shoeless in Germantown the day before, and suddenly that event didn't seem so random anymore. Two: People are jogging without shoes! A quick Internet search proves that people really are jogging without shoes, trying to get in better touch with the ground, provide better stability, and even (really!) take advantage of health benefits. (Many don't actually go totally barefoot -- there are glove-like covers that keep out rocks and glass. But others do.)

So, okay, what is up with these shoeless runners? And while we're at it, what is up with shoeless houses?

You know those houses. You stop by to visit some friends and all of a sudden, shoes are forbidden. It's awkward. But it's happening. I came across this comment on the web in a discussion about house slippers: "We're a shoeless household. Taking off our shoes upon entering the house keeps the house clean, which results in less electricity vacuuming. In the winter it does get cold, so these slippers would come in hand."

This writer surprised her friends when she went shoeless at home: "First was the friend who, when asked to remove her footwear, complained that her feet would be cold. I offered her a pair of my snuggliest socks, and shortly thereafter filled a basket by the door with cozy, colorful slipper socks with no-slip bottoms....Our second tough customer was my mother-in-law, who squawked, 'My shoes are totally clean! Why are you so paranoid?'”

What's up with this war on shoes? Drop me a Build-A-Story

 

[sprkthead2]

I've been living in a

I've been living in a shoeless houses all my life. Its odd for me to visit friends and see them walking around their house with shoes on.

 

[C. Beth Run.]

Not a bad article...if only

Not a bad article...if only he'd call us "runners" instead of "joggers." I may be slow, but I'm a RUNNER!

 

[Mike]

I have never been allowed to

I have never been allowed to wear shoes in the house.

 

[Barefoot Larry]

C Beth, you are right, we are

C Beth, you are right, we are runners. As the Barefoot Guru indicates, barefoot runners don't jog.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I am a plodder.  Sprkthead,

I am a plodder. :-(

Sprkthead, that's exactly how it has been for me. I think it is weird seeing people with shoes on in their own home, but then to expect me to let them walk around my home with shoes on? Oh, I don't think so.

 

[ajb422]

 Why would anyone ever want

Why would anyone ever want to walk around their own house in shoes? I guess I didn't realize people actually do this. I think their feet are probably crying :cry: and their carpet too.

 

[Nyal]

 In Utah I always kept my

In Utah I always kept my shoes on indoors and hated to take them off in others homes. Then I moved to Norway where it is strictly shoes off, even in buildings you would not think would be like that and I am happy to go barefoot everywhere almost. Yay, Norway.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Do you mean that most people

Do you mean that most people go around everywhere barefoot in Norway, Nyal?

 

[Nyal]

 No, but indoors everyone is

No, but indoors everyone is running around in socks all the time. They are much more open to BF here. I have never been asked to put shoes on before. Even in grocery stores. It's almost like they don't care.

 

[nature runner]

  I would love to live in

I would love to live in Norway then. It would be nice to be accepted being barefoot in public places! I envy you Nyal lol!

 

[Danjo]

Lets all move to Norway!

Lets all move to Norway! Haha.

I will honestly confess that I used to wear shoes around the house pretty much all the time. I guess I was just too lazy to take my shoes off, and I didn't like having to put my shoes on whenever I needed to go somewhere, so I just left them on. Now I've found the better solution of just not putting the shoes on.

The only problem with barefooting is that when people want you to take your dirty shoes off, you can't. Your skin is kinda attatched to you. If they have a house out front it all works out though.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Then you should have no

Then you should have no problems recruiting other barefoot runners to join the Norway Chapter. ;-)

 

[Longboard]

Norway's a great place and

Norway's a great place and all, but it may come as a surprise to many Americans that it's only the U.S. that has a problem with bare feet.

The SBL's membership around the world finds it hard to believe that we are denied access to stores, restaurants, libraries, public buildings etc.

It's not that there are more public barefooters in Norway or anywhere else for that matter (with the exception of New Zealand), it's just that nobody bothers with trying to tell a barefoot person that shoes are required outside of the U.S.

After the U.S., comes Canada, but after that the world is pretty accepting of the rare but happy public barefooters.

 

[barefoot kean]

That is a surprise, its rare

That is a surprise, its rare to think about the norms of other countries and that they may be quite different. if only people hadn't have had a vendetta against hippies in the 70's and created the anti-barefoot rules and social stigmas (Ive been kicked out of every eating establishment on campus for being barefoot , they weren't even nice/fancy places to eat ). On a different note, in H.S. and before i was just like Danjo, i never took off my shoes. Never saw any reason to, very few people in America have any real idea how much harm they are doing to themselves via shoes. Luckily the truth is (obviously) getting out.

 

[Mike]

Its illegal to wear my bare

Its illegal to wear my bare feet to the library?? :O I didn't realize it was not allowed, I just thought it was frowned upon...

 

[Longboard]

It is not illegal, just

It is not illegal, just assumed to be so by some library staff.

Unfortunatly, when challenged by barefooters some libraries have enacted rules requiring shoes.

Turns out you can't just make up rules on the spot like that, so there have been supreme court cases (at the state level)

deciding the matter.

In one rather famous case the library in question defended their banning of the shoeless by stating that there were feces in the carpet. We wondered how the moms at storytime felt about their preschoolers sitting in that same carpet after that.

A recent story of a library barefoot ban can be found at the SBL's blog:

http://societyforbarefootliving.wordpress.com/category/activism/

Scroll halfway down the page for the library stuff, but the first half is equally interesting to barefooters.

Another interesting library dress code here:

http://societyforbarefootliving.wordpress.com/category/libraries/

 

[Mike]

Lol, such BS.

Lol, such BS.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I guess that would be because

I guess that would be because at one time we had more hippies than any other part of the world.

Feces in the carpet. Whoops! Who came up with that excuse to keep the barefooters out?! You're fired!

 

[barefoot kean]

stuff like that really hacks

stuff like that really hacks me off. Usually i just keep myself in denial lol. that way i dont think about it and stay in a pretty good mood most of the time.