Dare to go bare! (footed)

So, I'm into minimalist footwear.

(That's the belief that we should be going barefooted or, if we must, with the least restrictive shoes possible and with the thinnest soles thereon.)

I've felt this way for a bit. They say it's a new 'movement' gaining momentum but that's just narrowmindedness, IMHO. Seriously. Here we have evolved over millions of years with the perfect meant of locomoting our homo sapien selves: our bare feet.

So the folks who live in bare feet are simply grokking how we were meant to run.  They're not part of a new trend, they are the ones who understand an ancient 'duh': we evolved barefoooted.

I confess that I'm amused and not a litle bit squicked out by the fitness freaks and cardio heads who swear by and shill shoes.  I mean come on, people. Don't you realise that the shoe industry is just using you?  They've sold you this exquisite pile of steaming Spinosaurus dung and you've happily dug into it*.

Yuck!  Do you really buy that your feet are supposed to be cinched, arched, mashed, and assisted?  Do you actually justify paying all that dosh for rubber, plastic and cloth that is unnatural?  Bizzare!  If all that crapola is so essential for sport and fitness then why did/do the primitive societies chase down bloody wild animals without Nikes?

PLUS, It's a proven fact that people who exercise barefooted have fewer injuries than those who wear shoes. (Of course one could NOT do chronic cardio and so NOT get injured, but we won't go there.)

My least favourite are the folks who whinge about how they just can't bear to go bare, it's just nasty. *simper*pout*

Uhm, princess?  When did the human foot get nasty?  The human mouth is nasty. The human foot unencumbered by a sweaty, stinky, sticky shoe is just ... a foot.  Maybe a bit of dirt on the sole, but, hey, I'm not fixing your sandwich or shaking your hand or touching your doorknob with my freakin' feet!

Jeez!  You're probably one of those women who is hastening the next bubonic plague by sloshing that damned hand sanitizer all over everything and using it on your and your baby's hands 20 times a day!  Supergerms, here we come!

Where was I?

Oh. So, since we live in a society where footwear is considered not only normal but de rigueur , what's a barefooter, minimalist footwear groupie supposed to do?

Well, I myself make certain that I and my children go barefoot whenever possible - in the house AND outside.  Obviously, there are places where this is unacceptable (out in public) or dangerous (we do live on a farm). In those situations we all wear shoes with the thinnest most flexible soles and shoes that are the least confining: plain old cheapo flip-flops, mock Crocs, moccasins, or, when I absolutely must (or feel the urge) Converse Allstars.**  I wish I had the money to try out the Vibram Five Fingers!

I absolutely admire those fitness folks who run barefooted. There's even a bloke who runs in New York City!  This is a great place to start if you'd like to educate yourself on minimalist footwear.

What about you?  What're your feeling about shoes?  If you do cardio, do you exercise barefoot or use an alternative (like Vibram Five-Fingers?)

UPDATE! Thanks to a comment from LifeMultiplied (thank you!) we have THIS proof that is is NOT illegal to go into business establishments (including restaurants!) barefooted, and THIS proof that it is NOT illegal to drive barefooted (this happens to be South Carolina's vehicular laws.)

I will say one thing about going bare in public: I would never go into an establishment without footwear for the same reason that my husband and sons will not go in with a hat on.  For the same reson that I do not appear in sleepwear or with my undergarments visible (no matter how comfy it is) it's rude and tacky.

My sleep pants and my woolly slippers are my work-wear and the most comfy thing I own but sometimes one must set aside ones preferred method of dress for politeness' sake.  Subsequently, when I appear in public, I am attired (minimally but decently).

Like nudists who carry a towel to sit on (so that their bits don't touch public surfaces), barefooters could carry ultrathin sandals (this is what I do - I keep a pair in each car) to slip on when entering another person's business. :)
*Kudos for getting the reference. Geeks and parents of young boys might have a leg up here.

** Yes, I know Cons are super big right now: horseshit to the jumpers-on. I've been amassing my Con collection for 30 years and 30 years from now I'll be the crabby old bint in the WalMart in her broken down classic black hi tops.