June 22nd, 2005
i just don’t get it
Why do parents let their children run around barefoot in public buildings? And I don’t mean toddlers, here, I mean older, school-aged children. It’s just as bad as a grown person walking around barefoot in a public building. These floors are gross! Plus, this is a PUBLIC BUILDING. It is a place of business for many people. Put some shoes on.
comments
Yeah, that’s gross.
I know. It doesn’t help that I have a minor problem with feet in general. Blech.
Had to laugh — as I read this, I am without shoes in my office. (They’re under my desk.)
Look, taking off your shoes is fine; it’s the *walking around* part that makes me shudder.
Hm. I don’t think I’d let my kid do it because of the worries about glass, but other than glass, it’s not going to hurt him, I don’t think.
But I am very laid back about such things. I was a barefooted country kid for years, as was my husband, and we both think we benefitted from the shoe-less years.
I don’t want to seem like I am against barefootedness; I spent many years wandering around outside with my shoes off and loved it. I guess it’s when I see a parent in my office building, which is an *office building*, and she has her tweenaged child with her (at least 11, possibly older), and that child is wandering around the waiting areas and the halls barefoot. It seems…disrespectful.
The other night we ate at one of those Japanese steakhouses- the kind where people sit together around the hibachi grill. When we sat down, the lady next to me had her diaper-clad baby sitting right on the counter. Later, she turned little poopy-pants around and propped its bare feet on what was essentially my dinner table. I know it’s just a baby, but dammit, I have to eat off of there. How’d you like it if I parked my naked toes next to your plate?