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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
Unprofessional. I can’t endorse the no shoe policy, socks or not.
You know, the scrotum is a perfectly normal part of the body…
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?
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.
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.
As a person who never wears shoes at home, being barefoot in the office is squicky.
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?)
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.
Oh, God. Here we go again… :rolleyes:
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?
Remember the “Ricki Lake” show? She ran around her audience barefoot.
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?
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.