Why do a lot of people make a big deal when they see someone barefoot out in public?

Question

Why do a lot of people make a big deal when they see someone barefoot out in public?

Answer 1

depends where it is.  In a resturant, public restroom or porta potty...because that's gross.

At the pool/beach, in the grass....because they are freaks.

Answer 2

i don't..

Answer 3

Because it is unusual

Answer 4

i smoke crack barefoot .. lol

Answer 5

Becuase it's usually not considered the norm in areas away from a beach.  I have no problem with it unless it is some ugly old lady.  

Answer 6

For the most part, there is a lot of foot-related prejudice going on. I am surpised at how many people have hangups about feet. From the way some of these people hate feet in general, you would think they would cut theirs off so they wouldn't have to look at them.

That said, I think the hangup stems from childhood, when parent basically taught kids that feet were dirty and nasty things, and to be kept hidden away at all times. It's perverse -- we wouldn't keep our hands locked in two pairs of heavy mittens all day long, would we? Why do we do it to our feet?

Anyway, that's my take -- people are just conditioned from childhood to believe that feet are horrible, nasty, repulsive things.

Answer 7

in the grocery stores and other retail establishments it is posted....NO SHIRT, NO SHOES, NO SERVICE...

and people think nothing of it to come into these places without shoes and dragging little children without shoes also...

I have worked in grocery retail for many years....there is a broken bottle or something spilled on the floor, customers drop things, etc...and the person without shoes is going to walk through and then blame the store because they cut their feet on glass??

I don't know where this person has been and I do not want them walking through the grocery section I am shopping in with bare feet...

Answer 8

Becuase it is rare to see.  

Answer 9

Because it's dirty? Depends where you live I guess. I live in Hawaii and people go barefoot all the time. But if someone in, say, New York went barefoot, the streets are all dirty, there's probably icky stuff you could step in to, stuff like that I suppose.  

Answer 10

They do ? I've never noticed and I go barefoot when ever I can. The only exceptions being if I have to wear them for work or sport. I don't know what country your in but here in oz you won't get a second look.

Answer 11

*Many* people are misinformed about going barefoot, as you can see on Yahoo!Answers every day; they believe it is dangerous, unhealthy, some even believe it is illegal to go barefoot in stores or restaurants or to drive without footwear. Show them this is not true, and include links rather than just posting it as hearsay or personal opinion!

As for safety, it's really not so dangerous. In eleven years of going barefoot always and everywhere, I get a tiny splinter maybe once a year, I've NEVER had a cut. Yet I walk and run in places like inner city sidewalks, the train station, the recycling center, bottle banks in other places, etc, etc... When you go barefoot a lot, feet quickly get *much* tougher than people who rarely go barefoot think. To be honest it surprised even me; I was never seriously concerned about great risks, but when I started going barefoot I didn't expect to be able to walk everywhere without any concern at all, the first year or so I watched much more carefully to go around broken glass or bramble bushes than necessary.

As for our health, our skin is made to keep pathogens out, and we're at far greater risk of picking something up through our hands than our feet. While the dirt is far less visible, there are as many or more germs on things touched by many people (shopping carts, railings, door k***s) as on the ground. And unless we prop our feet up on the table, with our hands we're more likely to transfer those germs to our face or food, allowing them to enter our body.

For the health of others, germs do not jump off the sole of a bare foot any more than off the sole of a shoe, or off the exposed skin of a totally bare foot any more than off the exposed skin of a foot stuck in a flipflop.

About parasites, the hookworm can enter the skin, but it hasn't been a serious problem in the South since modern plumbing has replaced the outhouses, and never was a problem in cooler climates. Dog hookworm is still around but has a harder time penetrating the skin of humans. It can be a concern in those countries where plumbing and hygiene is at a lower level than in the West, but even if you pick something up on a tropical vacation, it is easily treated with modern medicine.

About athlete's foot, it's unlikely to spread by going barefoot in stores, restaurants or on sidewalks. It's a fungus, it needs a warm, dark, slightly damp place to grow, as well as a somewhat damp and warm floor to live long enough to be picked up by anyone else. It spreads in locker rooms and pools, but unless you're *right* behind an infected barefooter, any spores someone else may have left behind will long have dried up and died on most other surfaces. And even if you were to pick up some spores, you'd need to put your feet back into closed shoes (that warm, dark and slightly damp place :P) for them to grow. On the surface of the bare skin, exposed to light and fresh air, it'll just dry up and die. Foot fungus is very rare among populations that go barefoot more often, not more common as you may've thought.

Our feet do not need support. From Samuel B. Shulman's. "Survey in China and India of Feet That Have Never Worn Shoes,"

One hundred and eighteen of those interviewed were rickshaw coolies. Because these men spend very long hours each day on cobblestone or other hard roads pulling their passengers at a run it was of particular interest to survey them. If anything, their feet were more perfect than the others. All of them, however, gave a history of much pain and swelling of the foot and ankle during the first few days of work as a rickshaw puller. But after either a rest of two days or a week's more work on their feet, the pain and swelling passed away and never returned again. There is no occupation more strenuous for the feet than trotting a rickshaw on hard pavement for many hours each day yet these men do it without pain or pathology.

For children it is *much* better to go barefoot:

"...children who had the opportunity of going barefoot a great deal, had less deformed toes, greater flexor strength, more ability to spread the toes. They also had denser muscles on the bottom of the feet; greater agility than those who had never gone barefoot, with a wider range of hip circumduction and more flexibility of the gluteal and hamstring muscles, and therefore, more ability to touch the toes when the knees were held stiff."

&

"In Europe and America flat foot is a common reason for attendance at a children's orthopaedic clinic, but in India children are seldom brought for treatment for flat foot. The few children who do attend with this complaint are from affluent urban families and they all wear shoes. In our clinic we have never seen a child from the farming community or from the family of a manual labourer who complained of flat foot."

Fortunately those working at the Health Department know better than the average person: contrary to popular belief, there are NO laws against going barefoot in stores, regardless of whether food is served. Stores can set their own dress codes, and in the US quite a few do, but any signs claiming 'by order of the Health Department' are false! See source. Btw, in other countries it's rare to encounter any business that has a problem with bare feet, I've never even SEEN a 'no shoes, no shirts, no service' sign here in the Netherlands, nor on my trips to Belgium and Scotland. As for driving barefoot, that is legal too, see source again!

It's also interesting that I've met many doctors over the past few years -not for me but accompanying my mom- and none of them have had a problem with my bare feet. Even in the US, where the bias against going barefoot is far greater than here in Europe, other barefooters report rarely if ever getting a negative comment from their doctors.

As for people who don't like the sight of bare feet, in flipflops you still see the entire foot looking down at it from the top! While for the barefooter, at least for me, the most important thing about going barefoot is feeling the ground underfoot, and even the thinnest sole does completely away with that, for anyone looking down at my feet such a tiny strap can hardly make a big difference.

Lastly, some people equate any alternative dress with disrespect, but I think that is an unfortunate thing. It is our differences that make life more interesting and colorful. And bare feet in particular can also be a sign of *respect*; think of how some cultures require bare feet in their temples, how some monks go barefoot as a sign of humbleness. To me, bare feet are the most soft, gentle and *respectful* way to walk, making me more aware of my surroundings and of Mother Earth. I certainly consider it more respectful than the careless, unfeeling step of a thick-soled boot, but if someone wants to wear those it's their own choice and I won't tell them to take their footwear off.

Answer 12

because its disgusting. the ground is dirty with all types of bacteria... but i am guilty of walking barefoot on the ground (only once) in vegas i couldnt help it cuz i was wearing heels and they hurt... well anywho i just felt so nasty afterward cuz the bottom of my feet were almost black... whos likes feet to begin with? but dirty crusty feet??