There are a few things about Australia and Australians that puzzle me – their predilection for adding ‘o’ to the end of as many words as possible in one sentence, as in ‘yummo’ (yummy), arvo (afternoon), and ‘bizzo’ (business), the way they refer to everyone by their surnames, also often adding an ‘o’ at the end for good measure (The Husband is ‘Bucko’), and the male love of wife-beaters (that’s singlets to the uninitiated, not men who beat up their wives). But nothing confuses me so much as the Australian obsession with walking everywhere barefoot. Now, I can understand going shoeless on the beach, in a park or in your garden – I always pad around the house and back yard barefoot and whip my flip-flops off as soon as I step onto the sand, provided it’s not roasting hot. There’s nothing like the feel of soft carpet, cool grass or sand between your toes. That, I get, but walking around shopping centres, on pavements in town and on gravelly paths with nothing to protect your feet? I know Australians are a laidback bunch, but seriously! Think about how painful it must be to walk over baking hot tarmac, and how dangerous when you consider the shards of broken glass, rusty nails and God knows what else might be scattered over urban ground, not to mention how dirty such surfaces must be. I once accidentally stepped in dog poo wearing flip-flops and a bit squelched over the side, touching part of my foot . It makes me shudder to think about it even now. It was truly disgusting.
In an effort to try to understand this Antipodean habit (for apparently the Kiwis, too, are fond of going shoeless), I Googled it and was inundated by numerous forums and blogs all discussing and reporting on this phenomenon. Some were as confused as I, but others defended the barefoot movement. I even found one website dedicated to barefoot walking and, yes, it was set up by an Aussie. According to him, “it’s fun and cool to have dirty feet”. What? What is so great about picking up all sorts of dirt on your feet? He insists that it is freeing and allows you to experience senses you wouldn’t normally if your feet were dulled by shoes. But why do I want to experience pain and discomfort from walking on various rough and dirty surfaces? Even horses walking in urban areas are shod! Yes, man was born without shoes and in primitive times went everywhere barefoot but I’m sure that if they had been given shoes they would have happily worn them. Shoes were invented for comfort and protection – why would you not want that? Barefoot fanatics insist that the soles of your feet toughen up after walking without shoes for a while but I actually rather like the smooth undersides of my feet, in fact I pay to keep them that way. On my trawl of the internet, I even discovered barefoot hiking groups. In any country I’d have thought that would be dangerous, with all the hazards of the great outdoors that you might come across, but in a country teeming with snakes, spiders and other venomous creatures, it seems to me to be crazy.
I agree that wearing heavy boots, or any closed-toe shoes that require socks, can be hot and sweaty in the Pilbara heat (I have smelt The Husband’s feet after a long day’s work in his safety boots – not intentionally, you only have to be in the same room and you will smell them once he has extracted them from his shoes – and, needless to say, it is not pleasant) but that’s why flip-flops were invented – they are the closest thing you can get to walking barefoot without hurting yourself in the process. I live in my flip-flops, they ensure my feet are well-ventilated and cool without the danger of returning home with burns, cuts and half the town on the bottom of them. I’ve seen kids have to hop across the car park because their feet are burning on the hot tarmac. Buy a pair of shoes!
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You are so young, only 27, know so little about the relatively recent past...going barefoot in the USA was quite a fad during the late 1960s and early 1970s, teenagers and young adults. Even in New York City. It's just that it went out of style here during the 1980s, but not in Australia and New Zealand. Your generation greatly exaggerates the dangers. Believe me, those of us who gradually got used to it early in the spring were able to walk on the hottest pavement by August. No pain or discomfort at all. By constantly doing it, nothing sharp will harm those who do this. Broken glass large enough to do damage, sharp rocks, etc are easily avoided, small pieces do not cut those who are conditioned properly to barefoot walking. Come on, people do all sorts of dangerous things - skydiving, drag racing, play contact sports where there is risk of broken bones, concussions, even permanent injury, use power tools, work on cars getting their hands in all sorts of vile automotive fluids. Yet you don't tell them 'oh my God - aren't you going to get hurt? You are touching what? Put on some gloves! And when is the last time you washed your shoes, or flip flops, both inside and out? Anyone who goes barefoot and has any sense washes their feet at least once a day, like a gardener or mechanic wash their hands. You already are touching this microbe filled world with your hands, and putting them near your face. And beaches are full of microbes as well, and we are generally resistant. (Seagulls do not use toilets.) Think it through to it's logical end. And by the way, it's not illegal in the US. Those anti-barefoot signs you see on some doors are the preference of the store owner, not a regulation. Those started appearing during the late 60s to keep hippies out, purely based on appearance that was controversial at the time.
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