What?
Fake overshoes!
Why?
Lots of people like running around barefoot and claim all sorts of benefits. My favorite part of running around without shoes is just getting to feel all the different surfaces, textures and temperatures that you would otherwise ignore in regular shoe-wearing life.
The problem with going around barefoot though is other people. First you have to deal with clerks banning you from grocery stores, malls, and funeral homes just because you think regular feet are cool. Then there is the problem with others who are either neutral or supportive of your barefootedness, but want to do stop and chats all the time.
You don't have time for getting kicked out of places or chatting with every single person, so what do you do?
Turn your feet into covert spies!
How?
The project basically consists of just cutting the very bottoms of your shoes off, but the entire process was a bit more physically demanding and interesting than I had thought it would be.
Fake overshoes!
Why?
Lots of people like running around barefoot and claim all sorts of benefits. My favorite part of running around without shoes is just getting to feel all the different surfaces, textures and temperatures that you would otherwise ignore in regular shoe-wearing life.
The problem with going around barefoot though is other people. First you have to deal with clerks banning you from grocery stores, malls, and funeral homes just because you think regular feet are cool. Then there is the problem with others who are either neutral or supportive of your barefootedness, but want to do stop and chats all the time.
You don't have time for getting kicked out of places or chatting with every single person, so what do you do?
Turn your feet into covert spies!
How?
The project basically consists of just cutting the very bottoms of your shoes off, but the entire process was a bit more physically demanding and interesting than I had thought it would be.
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Materials
- Pair of shoes (might be good to test out doing this first with an old pair, but it would be great to do this with dress shoes - and probably easier!)
- Dremel Device
- Dremel cutting blade (I use the thinnest metal cutting blade, others might be better for cutting rubber and foam but this worked for me)
- Dremel routing bit (i used the standard one that came with the dremel tool)
- Hacksaw
- Safety Glasses
- Dust face mask (cutting shoe foam shoots lots of tiny particles
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It takes a couple minutes to put the socks/shoes on in the morning, but it continues to be worth it. It's "sensational". Carpet, tile, aggregate sidewalk, stairs.
Only two people at work know about my "magic shoes". The first one noticed because we were in a meeting and I had my feet stuck out in front of me. The second one I told because she's a huge barefooting fan.
I do carry an extra pair of shoes and socks to work in case I'm busted or in case I might find myself in a compromising position. I have yet to change shoes, though.
How realistic are they? When you're walking, from the back it's terribly obvious that you're not playing by the rules. Surprisingly, no one ever seems to notice. Obviously, I also have to be careful about how I cross my legs.
Sometimes I will challenge them, asking for the Data and studies the used to come up with this "health and safety policy" which of course there is none, But most PC Nazis are completely unreasonable, so its a waste of breath.
I love going bare foot, the shoes are a neat idea, Has anyone caught you yet?
again i am not complaining
I'm guessing that if he were to step on broken glass in the store and cut himself he would not hesitate to sue...
Also, the vast majority of barefoot lovers actually watch where they are walking (gasp! such a new concept!), and are less likely to sue a store due to injuries because a) walking barefoot causes less injuries than wearing ANY kind of shoe - soles can get slippery on wet floors, flip-flops and crocs flop all over the place, get stuck, fold over... I've hurt myself FAR less often walking barefoot.
And another thing... shoes are NOT a necessity, and you don't need to be "on the farm" to go barefoot. I don't know anyone who NEEDS shoes. Do you wear them in the shower? Are you completely unable to walk without shoes? If so, that's probably a personal problem caused by years of wearing shoes!
Check out this link - very good article about why shoes are NOT a necessity, and are, in fact, destructive: http://nymag.com/health/features/46213/
In fact it could be argued the farm and a short list of other modern day working environments are the only places hazardous enough to merit shoes, except perhaps these stores of which you speak in which broken glass runs rampant.
It's funny that I almost feel like it'd be fine for *me* to be barefoot, but it would be totally wonky for my boss or co-workers to be barefoot. Therefore, I must be wrong about feeling like it'd be fine for me.
I'm on my third pair in 15 years, and they've saved one ankle from a rollover, both feet from damage due to falling from a ladder, and one mis-applied axe swing.
Also I was wearing them on the day of our big earthquake, so I was prepared.
Barefoot is good for showers and sleeping, but that's it. To each their own.
I agree, in a Manufacturing Plant somewhere you HAVE to have your steel toe's on and they will save you - I wouldn't even think of anything else!
But in an office situation, or just out and about, why not go for this! As long as you aren't putting yourself out there for injury, and are safety conscious, then to each his/her own...
In my last Job I could have done this all the time. Current job? Not at all...
wouldn't they see your the true identity of your covert spy shoes.
Great Ible!!
Now, you've crafted a devious way to go stealth. You'll be creating soul-less workers in no time... er.. sole-less... Yeah, that's what I meant..
Paint them to look like a nondescript pair of dark trainers. The vast majority of people wouldn't glance twice at them.
That said, barefoot on soft surfaces, like grass, or in a muddy farm pond, is something that should never be given up. Ever. :^) One should at least go barefoot enough to maintain a good callous thickness as this can help prevent punctures and injury.
Lastly, I like shoes mostly because in an emergency, I want to have shoes on. Whether it be dealing with a mugger, or running from a mugger, or escaping a fire, or helping someone out of fire, or whatever. I can always kick the shoes off quickly if that is advantageous (like helping a drowning person), but climbing a chain link fence barefoot to save a child from a pit-bull or prevent a mugging would be a very negative experience. I know the preceding reads comical, but life is full of surprises, not all pleasant. And some, while very rare, have extremely pivotal effects on our lives when they do occur. And as the Boy Scouts say, I think being prepared is a real good idea.