# Bare feet in the office? **URL:** \ **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:** 2
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/21 "2016-04-18T21:42:54Z")
For the last 15 years or so I frequently padded around the office in my socks. Since moving to an open office environment I’m told it violates company safety rules. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/22 "2016-04-18T21:47:01Z")
“Icky”? You think the purpose of clothing is to cover up the parts that are icky?? I think bare feet are unacceptable at the office because it’s too casual and unprofessional. Same reason it’s unacceptable to wear pajamas or T-shirt & shorts. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/23 "2016-04-18T22:52:07Z")
Location is everything. At a music publisher in Los Angeles, bare feet, incense, pot and blaring rock music is to be expected. At a corporate lawyer’s office in Chicago, not so much. OTOH, at my office in a small town in the Midwest, the boss’ small dog is part of the office ambiance. That is, when she isn’t on a spa day or loaned out to a client. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/24 "2016-04-18T23:04:19Z")
I prefer not to walk around barefoot or even in socks as a safety measure. Even in an office, those damn staples are everywhere and rolling chairs are a hazard. The bigger the office, the less likely I am to walk around without shoes. I don’t have any problem from a squickiness point of view, though. Feet are not that gross, and if there’s an odor problem it doesn’t matter whether you’re walking around or just sitting at your desk. That said, going around barefoot complaining about sweaty feet just seems awkward. Talk about oversharing. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/25 "2016-04-18T23:17:01Z")
In my company in Montreal, once the temperature gets up (happening soon) many of the women are wearing various types of sandals and flip-flops. I’ve never seen any men, on the other hand, wearing sandals or flip-flops. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/26 "2016-04-18T23:23:48Z")
Unprofessional. I can’t endorse the no shoe policy, socks or not. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/27 "2016-04-18T23:25:12Z")
> [@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. 🙂 You know, the scrotum is a perfectly normal part of the body… ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/28 "2016-04-18T23:29:56Z")
The bottom of one’s shoe is typically way nastier than what’s on the bottom of one’s foot. So I’m not getting the whole ick factor. As a matter of fact, don’t Asian cultures get icked out by us westerners wearing shoes in the house for that very reason? ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/29 "2016-04-18T23:39:25Z")
Hawaii here. Shoes are optional lots of places you wouldn’t expect. Everyone (almost) wears sandals/flip flops (we call 'em slippahs here) all over. Legal/financial offices may be a bit more fashion conscious but sandals in a courtroom are not unheard of on guys/gals/plaintiffs/etc… Less odor actually if the tootsies are out in the air most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/30 "2016-04-18T23:41:44Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > As a matter of fact, don’t Asian cultures get icked out by us westerners wearing shoes in the house for that very reason? Yeah, basically. One that I know who keeps the custom told me “If you wear your shoes in my house, you’re just smearing dog poop all over the carpet!” OK, I can see that. In the modern day, to me at least, it seems like a bit of an over reaction, but I see where they’re coming from. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/31 "2016-04-18T23:54:47Z")
As a person who never wears shoes at home, being barefoot in the office is squicky. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/32 "2016-04-18T23:55:34Z")
Other: I’m against it, because it’s a safety violation. (Do you have any idea how many loose staples there are in the typical office carpet?) ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/33 "2016-04-18T23:56:31Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > 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. Same here; though I did manage to get away with wearing flip-flops for a few weeks when I had an ingrown nail removed. Granted I had a medical excuse. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/34 "2016-04-18T23:59:30Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > …As a matter of fact, don’t Asian cultures get icked out by us westerners wearing shoes in the house for that very reason? Oh, God. Here we go again… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/35 "2016-04-19T00:02:55Z")
I once attended a large outdoor even in Kansas City, which took place on a lawn on a summer afternoon, with a couple of hundred attendees. The lady in charge, a tall beautiful woman who was very stylishly dressed, was a professional at busily organizing events, and in every way, exhibited confidence and control. She was barefoot. She just slipped her high-dollar designer shoes of, felt more comfortable on the grass that way. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/36 "2016-04-19T00:23:24Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I once attended a large outdoor even in Kansas City, which took place on a lawn on a summer afternoon, with a couple of hundred attendees. The lady in charge, a tall beautiful woman who was very stylishly dressed, was a professional at busily organizing events, and in every way, exhibited confidence and control. She was barefoot. She just slipped her high-dollar designer shoes of, felt more comfortable on the grass that way. And the relevance to this thread is? ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/37 "2016-04-19T00:56:07Z")
Remember the “Ricki Lake” show? She ran around her audience barefoot. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/38 "2016-04-19T01:16:45Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Unprofessional. I can’t endorse the no shoe policy, socks or not. I’m in favor of severely eroding the concept and value of “professional” anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/39 "2016-04-19T01:24:19Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I’m in favor of severely eroding the concept and value of “professional” anyway. It’s eroding organically anyway, but shoes are a must. And no fucking ball caps. WTF? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588/40 "2016-04-19T01:30:00Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > It’s eroding organically anyway, but shoes are a must. And no fucking ball caps. WTF? I’m in favor of eroding them faster. Anyway, we went through the Sixties already. Bare feet, sandals, and any type of headgear should have long been established by the hippies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bare-feet-in-the-office/752588.md?page=3)