Protip:

Combine the drawbacks of wearing shoes with the drawbacks of going barefoot.

Back in my hippie days, we would do a little trick. You get some hemp. Few beads. Whatever. Tie it around your big toe then loop it around your ankle. So it looks like you are wearing flip flops at a glance.

Did it all the time.

As a more informed person. I do not really recommend walking barefoot anywhere except a park or your own space. And beaches.

Cause dogs literally pee on every surface that exists in a city.

And also hepatitis.

Glass. Other sharp things.

Even if you have thick soles, they can take out gashes of it.

And the sidewalk is hella hot in the summer.

Go barefoot at your own risk. But know the risks. Mkay.?

I'd say dog pee is the least concerning thing on the list.
Also, parasites 😬
i tried to do it for a summer as a kid in a rural area and my feet got very gross indeed and I had a lot of painful experiences. but I feel that's the only way to do it safely, to be a kid in a small safe rural place where there is like grass to walk on
The thing about this I don’t understand is why. Is it supposed to be to exist in as much of a natural state as possible?
- Not a barefoot person but I've heard it claimed that its better for your feet. Seems off to me but its not like we evolved shoes so what do I know?
- I just like the way it feels. Though because of all the risks, I wouldn't do it except at home or similar environments.

That's kind of disgusting.

It's just seasoning.
Not kind of! Lol
Based.
- Based on my understanding of the state of the ground in cities, that is absolutely disgusting.
It's absolutely disgusting!

I sometimes question if we are truly the same species.

we are very diverse

"Hookwoorms, get in my feet please!"

Also all the tire dust that is releasing chemicals onto the skin.
- definitely don't think about what breathing it in does to you :)
unless you're in a place where human shit flows freely, that is not much of a concern. stores are usually not such places.
- SOMEBODY'S never been to a Ross Dress For Less, I see...
- City streets on the other hand
- Canine worm can spread to humans and can cause blindness
- Ok. I guess this was the additional detail that I needed. Don't walk in human shit in order to avoid hookworms. Check. Noted.
That’s exactly what I was thinking. Humans suck at remembering history when they can’t see the consequences anymore.
- Humans suck as remembering history?
  Hookworms isn't why stores require shoes. It's because of hippies. Laws typically require employees to wear shoes and even then it depends on the workplace.

I like going outside barefoot but this is just disgusting.

The store owner, standing in front of the "No Shirt, No Shoe, No Service" sign looking like:

(Btw, this is a great way to getting tetanus 🤭)

I avoid tetanus by not standing like this
Tetanus is a disease made up by corporations to sell more anti-rust "solutions"! Hemoglobin is Oxygen bound to Iron, how could Oxygen bound to Iron hurt you???????
- True. I never work a mask in 2020 and I turned out just fine. Don't even understand how tiny crown shaped object or whatever woke shit they make up could even hurt me. I survived just fine. A "crown" virus? LMFAO. I wear my crown 👑 like a king 🤴, wtf is a mini crown RNA bullshit, complete utter nonsense.
  /s

People that walk around cities barefoot need to be avoided at all costs.

I once saw a girl very abruptly stop walking on a rather busy street, throw herself down on a nearby bench in a hurry, take out her stuff from her tote bag and just start knitting with an oddly peaceful expression on her face as if nothing happened. I was left wondering what the fuck I just witnessed. Happened in the span of like 4 seconds.
Yes she was barefoot.
- Sounds like she was also mentally ill, dang.
people who care this much about what others wear need to be avoided at all costs
- People who say people should be avoided at all cost, should be avoided at all cost.
  No wait, I mean.. 🤔

There is an actual belief out there that your feet get some sort of power by connecting to mother nature barefoot. It's insane woo nonsense, but that meme lifehack literally would be something they might do, lol

The linoleum floor of a supermarket is a godless abomination, further from mother nature than any other surface
- 'linoleum' is one of those words you read and immediately have to feel what its like to say. Like evel knievel
- Linoleum floor in a supermarket? Haven’t seen that in the US nor Mexico.
Nothing quite like a spiritual connection with concrete
ugh, i hate that woo-woo "grounding" bullshit. gives the rest of the barefooters a bad name. honestly there's so many good reasons to go unshod without bringing in magical nonsense.
- Wanna get grounded, stick a fork in an electrical socket.
- #1 being that if i wore shoes in the summer i would have to periodically empty out the ocean of sweat in them
I once found a pair of barefoot running sandals online that were otherwise normal with rubber soles etc, but had a copper rivet inserted through the sole to facilitate that connection to earth.
- There are people who tie a wire around their toe to ground them to the earth when they sleep in bed... So
Connecting to some basic ass tile work.
- Daring to call linoleum "tile work" is like calling a Walmart a "home"
just wait until someone in your circles finds out about "frequency therapy".
- That would be an awesome name for some EDM production

Since when is it illegal? Nobody has ever raised any objection, let alone tried to stop me going dogs out to the shops.

I’m curious, and have two questions:
1. Have you previously read/heard the phrase “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service”?
2. If you don’t mind answering, what region do you call home?
- Elsewhere in this thread:
  Nah tbh going barefoot is pretty culturally accepted in rural Australia, as long as you're not doing it in like a restaurant or a pub.
  Yes, only in the aforementioned contexts
  asked and answered
I have never seen a sign for this.
- Illegal I haven't seen. No Shirts, No Shoes, No Service I have seen all over though. Often times near beaches. Many gas stations and restaurants have them as well. Though I don't see them as often
- Really? Apart from "you must be born on or before this date to buy alcohol", "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service" is the most common sign I see in stores
If the store has a rule for it, you would be trespassing without shoes.
- I guess where I'm from a lot of stores don't enforce any such rules they may or may not actually have 🤷‍♀️
i've been accosted and kicked out of places so many times for being barefoot: grocery stores, restaurants, a bar, book shops, even a shoe store. i've basically been bullied by society at this point into wearing shoes whenever i go out, despite my own preferences. it's not illegal, basically anywhere, but you've been quite lucky to not have gotten any shit anyways.
- Those places don't want to take liability for you potentially getting injured. Even if you would never sue a place for that, they have no guarantee of that, and US liability laws are absolutely ridiculous. I hope the US fixes the liability/lawsuit culture. So many things get killed by it
  (For the record, I'm not one of the barefoot people. I find it weird, but to each their own)
- even a shoe store
  If one did not own a pair of shoes, this seems like it would present a bit of a "chicken or egg" problem...
If you're anywhere near a beach, I wouldn't be surprised.
Go a few hundred miles inland and to conservative land, and you might hit some resistance. Even if it's not from the employee who's not getting paid enough to give a fuck, it'll be some old crotchety lady that needs you to know your bare feet are ruining her life.
- Nah tbh going barefoot is pretty culturally accepted in rural Australia, as long as you're not doing it in like a restaurant or a pub.

Toph-core

"Finally! A fashionable shoe for the blind earthbender."

Damn I coulda saved money on getting my soles redone

Soles redone: $IDK, ask the local Faeries whilst the cobbler naps.
Barefoot: $Priceless!

illegal?????????

Stores can't dictate what's legal, so this is not illegal. It's just not allowed under some store rules, but the most they can do is kick you out.

reverse sandals

Sladnas

This looks gross, but im also so confused at the amount of people saying walking barefoot is dangerous and gross. Walking barefoot is not to bad in my city its pretty clean and there is lots of grass.

"'Hello, hookworms, get in my feet,' or whatever. Some kind of worms will go in your feet."
- Never heard of hookworms, i dont think we have them.

Uncommon yes, but not illegal.

Once upon a time I was a barefoot hippie. If you extrapolate flip-flops down to their Platonic ideal, you can arrive at something you can fold up into your back pocket.

I'm reminded of this one barefoot hippie who would do nature survival shows without shoes. I understand how it worked for him in the forest or desert with brambles and whatnot, but how does that work in an urban area?
- Asphalt is hot but as long as you keep moving, and you've built up some callouses, it's not that bad. I always kept to the grass on the side when I could.
- Idk if we're thinking of the same show but it was a gear oriented army dude and a barefoot hippy doing survival things together. The only time I saw the hippy crack was going barefoot in a blizzard lol.
- all i can say is that i've been barefoot for a couple years now and.. it's fine? never really had an issue beyond cold and sharp gravel (especially when it's on a hard surface)
I'm looking for flip flops that roll up small to take hiking as camp shoes. Do you have a recommendation on where to look?
I just don't give a fuck. Adidas slides are basically my only good weather shoe. And most of the time I slide them into each other and stick them into my cargo short pocket. I have been doing this for like over 30 years and I hope to keep living life like this for the next 30 years.
- I wanna live somewhere with weather that nice and clean infrastructure.

Why are you walking barefoot whilst constricting your toes that's confusing me

That's how you pick up all the soup ingredients for later.
- Earth Spice.

Just paint your foot??

I've seen this somewhere before and they are an influencer who really is all about being barefoot everywhere

The flexy guy?
- He wears toe shoes

Did they use wirebrush to wash their feet after arriving home?

Wash?
some barefooters like not washing their feet. personally, i don't get that. if my feet are dirty when i get home, i just wash them in the sink real quick. don't need any special tools; hands, water, a bit of soap, and maybe a washcloth will be plenty.
- ...washing my feet in the sink is trivial; drying them well-enough not to track around slightly-damp feet afterward is a hassle...

That is so asinine. Don’t go places that require shoes or just wear shoes if you have to.
Or, get body paint and paint on a pair of shoes. At least that takes some skill and you don’t look like a spoiled jerk.

Grumble grumble grumble!
Thank you for calling my ass a nine, it's mostly a strict diet of MacDonalds and Whiskey Sours!
That aside, become ungovernable.