Today I want to talk about a really disgusting phenomenon I’ve noticed as the summer has settled in and the days have become reliably warm.
While by no means the majority of people are engaging in this, I’ve seen it often enough now that I can no longer classify it as an “exception”.
I’m talking about people who walk around in public barefoot. I’ve seen people walking along the sidewalk without shoes on, going into eating establishments without shoes on, riding their bikes without shoes on (ouch!), or doing their grocery shopping without shoes on. Yesterday, the girl in line in front of me at the OfficeWorks copy center was also barefoot.
I understand that Australia is pretty laid back and maybe a lot of people just want to bring their beach lifestyle into the city, but walking around barefoot is not only dangerous (I hear there are a lot of needles lying around in the vicinity of Victoria Street), but it’s GROSS.
Seriously, I don’t want to see your grody feet and I don’t want to think about what kind of foot fungus you’re sharing with all the people who walked on that floor barefoot before you did. Put some freaking shoes on! Even flip flops would suffice.
So anyway, I was remarking on this unhygienic habit to G and something occurred to me. In Australia, I have never, not once, seen one of those signs that say “no shirt, no shoes, no service”.
Americans, you know what I’m talking about. You see them everywhere in America. I remember the local gas station where I grew up put one of those signs up because so many kids came in barefoot or wearing swimsuits in the summer after having been playing in the sprinkler.
I asked G if such signs existed here and he said he didn’t think he had ever seen one. So now I’m going to be on the lookout for people who aren’t wearing shirts either.
Yikes! I agree, that’s gross. Not even here in Mexico I see people walking around barefoot!
Funny, though, that you bring this subject up. I’ve been thinking about all those shirtless guys that I see around here. I mean, I won’t lie, some guys do look great, but still I believe that there is a place for everything. I don’t want to see women in bikinis and shirtless guys in restaurants or supermarkets. Same goes for barefoot folks, but luckily the “barefoot disease” hasn’t spread yet…
Maybe you should have some signs printed and put them up at night…!
Yeah, I don’t want to see people walking around in their beach wear unless they are at the beach. (And even then, I might still avert my eyes!) Walking around shirtless is gross just because it looks disgusting. Who wants to see someone’s beer gut hanging out? But going barefoot is an actual hygiene problem and I just shudder every time I see it. I mean, they only mop the floor at the grocery story when there is a spill. It’s filthy in there! I did consider putting up signs under cover of darkness and being all stealthy about it… then I remembered there are CCTV cameras everywhere in this country ruining everybody’s fun.
Haha, I remember the first year I was here, that massively shocked me too – imagine the contrast with Paris! But then I got used to it, slowly. Now I work in a hipster co-working place, and some people don’t even wear shoes at work – took me four years to find that normal!
It’s not normal. :-p Seeing it for four years doesn’t make it normal. Don’t give in!!!
Some people in Japan change into plastic shoes in the office. You would NEVER see barefeet (except in my office where I take my shoes off while I’m at my desk
).
I can’t imagine the Japanese would be comfortable going out in public barefoot! Although now that I think about it, I have never seen any Asians here go barefoot.
I’ve thought about this a lot. As someone whose parents would not even let me run around the yard without shoes on because it was a.)dangerous and b.)tacky, I spent two+ years here recoiling every time I saw someone without shoes on and often declared, “no child of mine is EVER going to walk around without shoes on!” But, lately, my attitude is shifting. While I am still concerned about broken glass etc. on the ground, I realize more and more that it is cultural, and, while I am not going to give up MY shoes, I’m not sure it’s a battle that will be top priority to pick with my children, assuming that we still live here when they are pre-teens/teenagers and they are fully Aussie-fied and immersed in beach culture. I’ve even learned recently that there is a whole movement of people (medical professionals included) who consider bare feet most healthy. I’m growing to think it’s very much a cultural perspective thing.
That said, I once went to work with a teen intern who was not wearing shoes in a professional theatre setting – he was a sweet, hard-working kid, but showed himself poorly by not wearing shoes. Shoes in the workplace is definitely a battle I’ll pick!
I think it’s one thing for a child to play barefoot and for an adult to do their shopping barefoot. The latter really is a public health issue. I think there’s definitely a time and place for bare feet, but there are a lot more times and places where shoes are called for.
I’ve noticed it too. It doesn’t gross me out nearly as much as the shirtlessness though. There are just some things I do not need to see! It’s definitely cultural and I don’t think it has anything to do with the beach. Coming from Miami, Melbourne doesn’t feel beachy to me at all (and people always wear shoes, at least sandals, in Miami). Some Aussies are just so relaxed and informal that it’s almost gauche.
I agree. Melbourne doesn’t feel beachy to me either. It’s got nothing on Miami. Sometimes I think Australians just like the beach so much that they imagine it follows them wherever they go. Maybe I’m just uptight and old fashioned, but I find the whole “let’s not bother to get dressed” thing very off putting. There’s being relaxed and casual and then there’s just being a slob. Fortunately, the shirtless and shoeless people are only a small minority, but I still cringe whenever I see it. I suppose I was forewarned though. The booklet I got from immigration on Australian cultural values does specifically say that Australians find it acceptable to wear a lot less clothing than people in other countries and that if you’re not okay with that, maybe Australia isn’t the right place for you.
If a Hong Kong business had a no shirt no shoes sign they’d go out of business. Not wearing shoes is a national pastime around here – even in winter (which really isn’t all that cold). The scary part is all the men walking around without shirts – except in winter when everyone wears heavy coats (even though it isn’t all that cold).
That surprises me. Somehow when I think of Hong Kong, barefoot people don’t come to mind at all. I hear most of Minnesota has a -46 wind chill today. I bet you don’t miss that at all!
Minnesota in winter is one place you’ll never see bare feet.
All I can say (as an Australian) is that I hate people’s bare feet, I don’t even like thongs/flip flops. Other people’s toes disgust me – I don’t mind my own. Putting distance between myself and the slob factor is one reason I enjoy living in Europe.
I’m not a fan of flip-flops. I don’t mind them at the beach, because it’s pretty much the only practical footwear to wear in sand, but I don’t like seeing them everywhere else. Not so much because toes disgust me (I don’t have a problem with other kinds of sandals), but just because it is the epitome of sloppy. But Americans dress like slobs, too. I’ve just never seen them make a habit of going around barefoot or shirtless in public, though they could definitely give the Australians a run for their money in any contest of poor dressing. Europeans didn’t used to be slobs and still aren’t compared to Americans and Australians, but I have noticed things going downhill there in recent years, so we’ll see…
As a Australian I would have to agree with you here because I too hate it when people enter shops etc with no shoes or shirts on their person. Not because of the grossness factor (I have a fairly strong stomach) but to show respect for yourself as we’ll as others around you.
It’s like seeing girls wearing those short shorts with their butt cheeks hanging out, I don’t need to see that so cover yourself up!
I completely agree. It is a respect issue. If you can’t be bothered to get properly dressed before going out, then stay home, I say.
Here in Southern California in beach town with a University, many students are embracing what they see as a ‘natural and healthy bohemian lifestyle’ and liberating their feet from the constructs of shoes. It’s also part of a trend towards ‘barefoot running’, which may be better for feet. However, there are now shoes that are designed to be gloves for your feet, more like a rubber sock with toes – the benefits of barefoot, while protecting your feet. I’d much rather see more of those around than blackened and callused feet.
I know a few people who swear by those foot glove things and say they are really comfy once you get used to them. If people are going barefoot for health reasons, there’s no reason they can’t get a foot glove. I think people here are just being lazy!
Hmm…lucky you chose to live in Melbourne and not Queensland! Up here, thongs and barefeet are commonplace. Not in Brisbane, so much, but everywhere else! And there are often “no shirt, no shoes, no service” signs to be seen….perhaps because it is so common! Mostly in pubs/bars and beachy places, and where there is food service involved. I lived – until fairly recently – in Melbourne for seven years and don’t recall seeing too many shirtless or shoeless people, mostly because it was too cold and Melburnians tend to be more fashion conscious.
Queensland has way more scary things there than Victoria and barefoot people are the least of them! I do notice the barefoot trend more on very hot days, but I even find that surprising because the pavement is so warm that I would think it would hurt to walk on it with bare feet.