More seriously, these days I go barefoot a lot, and subsequently have very thick callouses on the soles of my feet. Usually when I step on a sharp rock or a piece of glass, I barely feel it, and never draw blood. But I don’t spend much time outside barefoot. One thing I do fear in this neighbourhood is hypodermic needles. Also, even though I can pick up things off the floor with my toes, I can’t drive barefooted for the life of me!

But I love going barefoot indoors–actually, no one is allowed in our bedroom with shoes on. It definitely makes it easier to clean.

Yes, there are some people who go barefoot almost all the time, even for running and hiking. Most carry some kind of sandal for times when they simply must enter an establishment that requires footwear. Some have made agreements with local business owners that allow them to go barefoot if they waive the right to sue if they are injured – because it’s not “hygiene” that’s the main issue, it’s liability. We don’t require people with colds to put on rubber gloves before touching a shopping cart, for example. Far more diseases are passed by unclean hands than from feet.

For the record, I go barefoot a lot, but I’m not interested in the activist side of things. If a business owner wants me to put on shoes, I do, or I take my business elsewhere. And I don’t walk barefoot in the snow, uphill both ways.

Whatever he wants to do on his own time is fine by me, but once he enters a public space, he’s putting others at risk. I’d say he’s Extremely Selfish.

Yes, Charles, obviously for extreme minimalist….

I actually have heard that it isn’t the best to run barefoot, that yes people have done it but it’s better to run with some support due to the pounding you’re giving your skeleton.

If Mr. Extreme Minimalist wants to go shoeless everywhere that’s his deal and he’s welcome to it of course, but I’d not rationalize that it’s actually healthier or smarter in some way. As has been pointed out, there are schools of thought that say being shoeless ALL the time is actually NOT healthier for your feet or your immune system.

Chinese women used to (and maybe they still do) routinely give birth squatting in a rice paddy but I’m not seeing throngs of pregnant American women eschewing the hospital in favor of copping a squat in their flower garden. Just because some culture in another time, in another part of the world did/does something, doesn’t mean it’s a best practice.

In fact, feces are more of a danger than broken glass. Broken glass that’s large enough to see is easy to avoid; after a while of going without shoes your feet can walk on smaller pieces without injury. Turds, in some parts of North America (and elsewhere) can carry parasites, although in most cases you’d need an open (bleeding) wound for anything to get in.

Get going. Well begun is half done.