Walking around the office barefoot

TheCaren

That is kinda gross. I have flip flops in my office so when my feet are screaming from my tall heels, I can switch to flip flops to give them a rest.

Dragonwolf

They're feet... 99.99% of humans are born with two of them.

Get over it.

Doesn't mean I have to like them.

I don't even like looking/touching my OWN feet. *shudders*

Why?

Serious question. Hell, anyone who doesn't like feet, please feel free to answer, because I honestly don't understand what makes them inherently "gross," especially any more than things like shoes. Assuming a reasonable amount of hygiene and care, here, what, exactly, is it that make feet so terrible?

baybeejulia

I walk around barefoot! Not to the toilet though, and ours is a small office. Plus we have carpet

Dragonwolf

This is a workers comp liability. Hope the company doesn't mind their insurance premiums going up

What's the difference between walking around in socks or what have you to go to the printer or talk to someone at their desk and walking around in open toed shoes?

stepping on something sharp

What? Never have a nail go through your shoe before? For that matter, ever see what passes for "professional footwear" these days? About an eighth of an inch of foam or cork. Some good that will do against a tack or staple that's longer than that.

Dragonwolf

It just boggles my mind at all the uneducated, unfounded, untrue statements. With the exception of a personal viewpoint on weather feet are ugly or not... Most of these nasty, safety, gross, dangerous, etc... statements being made are just societal stereotypes that have been pounded into our brains over time.

Bare feet used to be socially acceptable and nobody would bat an eye to see it.

1. Stinky feet... Are a byproduct of bacteria which grow and thrive in dark moist places. (Shoes!) Anyone who is barefoot much of the time can attest to the fact that bare feet do not stink unless encased in sweaty socks and shoes.

2. Unprofessional... This one is merely an environment, and dress code issue. (which were probably created because of uptight individuals and their unfounded fears) If I work in a place that does not deal with the public then who cares?

3. Dangerous, safety issue... Oh please! This is the most non issue one. If you work in an environment where protection is needed then ok, (think factory floor) but I can guarantee most people (especially office people) are in no more danger of injuring their bare feet as they are of injuring their bare hands. I mean you people make it sound like you're walking through mine fields of broken glass and rusty nails. (What the hell kind of offices are you working in?)

4. Health code... Only if you are serving food, but then there are rules for your hair, face, hands (hygiene in general) in that situation too. As for most other places of work... There is no health code referencing bare feet. In fact there are practically no laws on the books restricting bare feet in general. Not one state in the U.S. has a driving barefoot restriction law. (Hell it's far more dangerous to drive with flip flops than bare foot!) Most rules concerning bare feet are implemented at the company / business level, not the government level. (personal / company rules... Not laws!)

5. Gross, nasty, etc... (especially in regards to bathrooms.) Unless you have an open cut on your foot, you are no more likely to contract anything from walking on a bathroom floor than anywhere else. We have this really cool thing around our bodies called skin and it keeps out a lot of stuff. You are far more likely to contract something from exposed hands in a bathroom than from your feet. Plus... My feet don't have tread and grooves and cavities for all that nasty bacteria you are so scared of to cling to and catch a ride on like your shoes do. You people with shoes are tracking things far greater distances than us bare foot people. I also shower and clean myself (including my feet) daily. How often to you clean the bottom of your shoes?

6. Feet are ugly... That's your opinion, and what's more feet that are squeezed into sweaty, pinching, confining, bacteria ridden little coffins every day tend to be much uglier than the ones that are out getting tanned and beautiful in the fresh air.

And finally let me say that so many people are missing out. Going barefoot is one of the best feeling in the world. Go for a barefoot hike some day the textures and sensations are incredible. Think about walking around every day all day with gloves on. All the tactile sensations you would be missing out on. I don't think too many people would enjoy doing that and would take those gloves off the first chance they got. Well that's how I feel about shoes. Put them on when you need to or have to, but as soon as it's possible... Kick them off and feel the world around you!

Thank you for your time. :-)

pink_lady1995

I'm a bit guilty of this I started working in an office about 9 months ago and within a week I was spending my days barefoot.

I actually find it quite nice not having shoes on, just got to remember to try not to wear flats to work as each time iv taken them off my feet have majorley stunk and some colleague's were making fun of me. Only bad thing about going barefoot is your feet get dirty quite quickly and I always found if I didn't have a shower for two days and went in work and took my shoes off my feet would be horrendously mucky from the previous two days.

Oh and also remember that some men have foot fetishes and you could find yourself in a situation similar to me where some guy at my work was taking photos and videos of me at work barefoot. I told my bf and he said we should find him on facebook and we evebtually tracked him down and he luckily for us wasn't set to private and saw an album titled.."the work days" and there was loads of pics of me sitting in my chair and one of me where I was kneeling going through paperwork and zoomed in on my feet...among others it was pretty disturbing and we got him sacked lol.

So remember girls if you do shed the shoes, make sure some weirdo isn't recording you lol

JusticeGirl25

It's not something I would do. I don't know how often my office cleans the carpet. I do take off my shoes once in a while only when I'm in my cubicle, though.