I was actually a member of the wedding party. Not a bridesmaid-- I was the one who handed out programs beforehand, and afterward, little bottles of bubble mix for the guests to use instead of rice. (Whatever you call that job.)
Considering he paid about $60,000 for this extravaganza, I gave him some leeway. A second mortgage at that age is stressful on a man. . . .
I was at an outdoor wedding, and the mother of the groom showed up barefoot, wearing what looked like a charm bracelet around her ankle and looped around her big toe (they were not sandals, she was definately shoeless) Everyone was dressed up, she looked like a throwback to a sixties flower child.
I’m the same way. My feet are soft as hell. Which is nice, because hey, I don’t have crusty feet. But it sucks sometimes too - can anyone say rocky beach?
I could tell I’d lost my question-fielding edge today when, on the way home from a wretched, afternoon-long trip to the store, my son (aged 2.5) explained to his twin sister “I have to wear shoes because nobody wants to see my stinky feet.”
It was the best answer I could come up with at the time.
My sister has twins. She took them in for a professional photo once, when they’d just reached that “Hey - I can take my shoes and socks off all by myself!” stage of toddlerhood, and was having trouble getting them to stay in footwear for the photo. So she just took the shoes and socks off of both of them, and had them photographed that way.
My mother was horrified, and hated the picture, because she thought it made them look trashy.
They weren’t even two years old yet!
I thought they were adorable.
I myself once went to work without shoes (and no, I was not a lifeguard or a karate instructor - I worked in an office), because as I was pulling out of my driveway for work that morning, I witnessed a car accident (well, a car hitting a mailbox), and somehow left my shoes behind in the process of approaching the car to check on the driver (who was stunned, but OK), returning to my house to call the police, and then chasing after the car to catch the license plate as it sped away to avoid the cops. Since I drive barefoot in the summer (I know, I know), I didn’t miss the shoes until I got to work . . .
. . . and I didn’t want to be even later, so I just went on in without them, and went back home for them at lunch.
I hate shoes that are all closed in but hate to go bare foot, like Auntie Em, I have tender feet! Dh and I got in a huge fight yesterday beause I was wearing flipflops and one broke as I got out of the car to go in to Macy’s. He was pissed because we had to make a bee line for the shoe department and he berated me all the way there for my “stupid” choice in foot wear…anyway I thougt this thread was funny because he hates to see people bare footed or in flip flops thinks its tacky.
I showed up for a first date once without shoes and socks. (It was during summer, and we were going for a hike.) I figured that if she didn’t like like me barefoot, then she wasn’t the girl for me.
…it turned out that she wasn’t the girl for me. But that’s a long story, and it doesn’t have anything to do with being barefoot…
Bare feet outdoors or at home don’t bother me. But bare feet in a public indoor space just strike me as inappropriate. I’ve had to tell my student workers more than once that they must wear shoes in the office. Grrr.