# Bare feet in the office?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [April 18, 2016, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588 "2016-04-18T19:23:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/1 "2016-04-18T19:23:24Z")
I will admit to being vaguely squicked out by feet in general, but I’m confused as to how _anyone_ thinks it’s okay to kick off your shoes and walk barefooted around a professional office. Especially in someone else’s cube or office. Especially when the barefooted person talks about how sweaty their feet are in general.
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/2 "2016-04-18T19:28:35Z")
SCUBA shop on the beach? Fine. Otherwise it’s kinda weird.
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### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/3 "2016-04-18T19:29:51Z")
I do walk around in bare feet. But I:
1. Never walk into someone else’s cube or office as such.
2. Make sure my feet are always clean and well-maintained and the toes are polished.
3. I don’t talk about them, _ever_. Especially not how sweaty they are! I don’t mention them, until some joker has to bring them up (hur dur dur you have bare feet).
I’m not squicked out by feet, though, and frankly, I find the people who are squicked out to be a little weird! Sorry. But feet are perfectly normal parts of the body that are often exposed in sandals or high heels anyway. It’s not like it’s a butthole or something. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/4 "2016-04-18T19:30:08Z")
The last time I worked in an office, nobody seemed to mind of you had kicked your shoes off under your desk. Walking to the communal printer or to an associates cubicle wasn’t really a problem. Anything farther away than that and I always put my shoes back on.
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### Author:  [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/5 "2016-04-18T19:40:46Z")
> [@Anaamika](#):
>
> I do walk around in bare feet. But I:
>
> 1. Never walk into someone else’s cube or office as such.
> 2. Make sure my feet are always clean and well-maintained and the toes are polished.
> 3. I don’t talk about them, _ever_. Especially not how sweaty they are! I don’t mention them, until some joker has to bring them up (hur dur dur you have bare feet).
>
> I’m not squicked out by feet, though, and frankly, I find the people who are squicked out to be a little weird! Sorry. But feet are perfectly normal parts of the body that are often exposed in sandals or high heels anyway. It’s not like it’s a butthole or something. 🙂
Feet\* are\* perfectly normal parts of the body…that tend to have sweat and possibly fungal infections on them. I don’t want that shizz on the carpet. 😉
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### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/6 "2016-04-18T19:42:06Z")
Carpets have way worse things on them than sweat. Everybody wears their shoes inside, after all!
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### Author:  [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/7 "2016-04-18T19:42:26Z")
We need another option on the poll. (Yes, there always has to be someone saying this. Today it’s my turn)
Sans shoes, but with socks.
I’ve been known on many an occasion to kick off the Johnson-Murphys under my desk. A walk to the printer, neighbor’s cube, etc. No one seems weirded out. Walking to the breakroom or restroom, the shoes go back on.
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/8 "2016-04-18T20:03:44Z")
I said other because (most) feet are not icky but they shouldn’t be bare in work.
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### Author:  [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/9 "2016-04-18T20:08:47Z")
Since our company has both a production element and an office element, we can’t allow bare feet (or shoeless feet with socks, or bare feet with flip flops) anywhere on our company property as it voids our insurance. If we allow people to go about bare foot (or one of the bracketed alternatives) and they get injured, our insurance will not pay. We, the company, pay the full cost out of the company coffers.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/10 "2016-04-18T20:13:14Z")
This is a woman, right? Cuz I can’t imagine a man not wearing socks in anyplace as formal as an office, and taking off your socks at work is just odd.
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### Author:  [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/11 "2016-04-18T20:16:11Z")
I do it rarely, usually because my shoes feel fine in the morning but start bugging me later in the day. I’ll stick them back on if I get a customer or have to leave my office.
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### Author:  [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/12 "2016-04-18T20:19:57Z")
I put ‘Other’ as I think walking around in socks is OK. I never do it but we have people who do.
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### Author:  [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/13 "2016-04-18T20:21:35Z")
I’m fine with people kicking shoes off under their desk. I do that myself. I’m only grossed out when they start walking around. 😉
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### Author:  [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/14 "2016-04-18T20:25:45Z")
I would be barefoot in the office but I am not comfortable enough breaking that cultural norm. I do sometimes kick off my shoes under my desk but I usually wear slip-ons so I can put them back on pretty quickly if someone calls an impromptu meeting.
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### Author:  [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/15 "2016-04-18T20:39:35Z")
Shod Those Hooves, Laddie! The smell o’ Athletes Toe Jam is driving the clients away (and half the staff with them).
Unless you’ve just found The One Ring, in which case scarper off and drop it in the Lava of Mount Doom (With Your Feet), You Get some Shoes on those Hairy Stankers…!
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/16 "2016-04-18T20:54:42Z")
I don’t think bare feet are icky, but I do think they’re out of place in a professional setting. I personally don’t like to go barefoot - I need the support of a good pair of shoes.
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### Author:  [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/17 "2016-04-18T21:02:56Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#):
>
> Shod Those Hooves, Laddie! The smell o’ Athletes Toe Jam is driving the clients away (and half the staff with them).
>
> Unless you’ve just found The One Ring, in which case scarper off and drop it in the Lava of Mount Doom (With Your Feet), You Get some Shoes on those Hairy Stankers…!
When I buy shoes, I buy 3 sets and alternate every day so each pair gets 48ish hours to air out. This has pretty much solved all foot odor issues not related to external factors like unexpected exercise or damp socks from stepping in a puddle that’s deeper than it looks.
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### Author:  [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/18 "2016-04-18T21:11:13Z")
I always take mine off at the doctor’s waiting room, and put them under a chair. It’s a great conversation piece,nobody would ever talk to strangers in a doctors waiting room, unless they take off their shoes. Some people ask me if I’m not afraid someone will steal them. Come on! Nobody has ever seemed grossed out about it. Some people think it is odd, but I think it is odd to live such a frightened life that you keep your shoes on just to guard them from theft. People think it is even more strange that I actually use them to walk to my appointment, instead of driving there in a car.
This is a habit I got into when living in Montreal, where nobody wears their winter overshoes in an office like that. Shoes and boots are lined up out in the corridors. Shoes off indoors is a pretty widespread tradition in Canada.
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### Author:  [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/19 "2016-04-18T21:14:59Z")
I’ve never seen anyone barefoot in an office. Sitting at a desk in socks, yes, and I frown on that, too. Go air your feet out somewhere else!
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### Author:  [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2016, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/20 "2016-04-18T21:34:51Z")
> [@leftfield6](#):
>
> We need another option on the poll. (Yes, there always has to be someone saying this. Today it’s my turn)
>
> Sans shoes, but with socks.
>
> I’ve been known on many an occasion to kick off the Johnson-Murphys under my desk. A walk to the printer, neighbor’s cube, etc. No one seems weirded out. Walking to the breakroom or restroom, the shoes go back on.
Here, here! I keep my shoes off most of the time at my desk, with socks on, of course. I do not go anywhere without the shoes on, however.
When someone visits me at my desk, I don’t do anything to hide the fact that I don’t have my shoes on, unless the socks are holey.
Barefoot? No. Just no, in an office.
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