# Shoes? What On Earth For?!? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 20, 2002, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-what-on-earth-for/143977 "2002-12-20T04:38:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-what-on-earth-for/143977/21 "2002-12-20T21:42:36Z")
I used to get crap for not putting socks on my son. In the fucking SUMMER. Do some people find bare feet so offensive? Come on, is there anything sweeter than little baby toes? It’s not like they get all funky. Well, not unless they’re wearing shoes all the time. Which my son NEVER did. I didn’t buy him shoes until he started walking. And even then, we tried to let him go barefoot as much as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-what-on-earth-for/143977/22 "2002-12-20T21:53:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Green Bean \* > \*\*Geesh. What’s the fun of a Pit rant if everyone agrees with ya? 😛 I was expecting someone to come here in support for shoes for babies. Oh well, I can still wait and hope. \*\* But the little shoes are _sooo_ cute! How can you resist not buying every cute little pair you see? Do what you want. If they aren’t walking I don’t see the harm. I’m one of those people with tender feet (I rarely go without shoes, too many times I have stepped on painful things to feel comfortable going barefoot), maybe some people who are harping on you are too, and feeling uncomfortable because of that? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-what-on-earth-for/143977/23 "2002-12-21T00:01:56Z")
What you said, **GB** , but I warn you that letting your baby go barefoot outdoors (in the warm weather, natch) constitutes formal license for everybody you meet to play This Little Piggy with him. (No it doesn’t, I know it doesn’t, but I can seldom resist.) ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-what-on-earth-for/143977/24 "2002-12-21T03:36:33Z")
I never wear shoes. Not indoors, not outdoors, not unless I’m going to a public place. If I can get away with it, I take my shoes off there, too (in movie theaters, under the table at the restaurant, etc.\* which is a large part of why my two pair of shoes are a pair of Birkenstocks and some cheap Wal-mart waterproof boots.) I always have, I always will. When Dominic was a baby, he didn’t wear shoes. We lived in Arizona, too, so he was often just in a diaper, no shirt, etc. It was over 100 degrees outside, he wasn’t gonna get cold. He wears shoes to play outside, and to go to school, and to go to the store… but other than that he doesn’t wear shoes and never has. If anyone gave me crap about it, they’d have gotten an earful. I can’t believe people are so rude. (Well, no, I _can_, I just don’t understand it.) \*I have low bloodpressure and I always sit on my feet, or they fall asleep. Sitting on shoe’d feet is mega uncomfortable, in addition to the standard discomfort of shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-what-on-earth-for/143977/25 "2002-12-21T09:15:38Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Green Bean \* > \*\* > “Where are his shoes?”_\* “Where is your IQ point?” > [@](#): > > **"Next time you come back, wear your shoes."** “When come back, bring brain!” > [@](#): > > **"Oh you’re so cute! Where are your shoes?"** “Oh, you’re so stupid! Where is your brain?” > [@](#): > > **"Look at that baby! He’s got no shoes on!"** “Look at that moron! He’s got no brain!” > [@](#): > > **"If you really cared about that baby, you’d put shoes on it."** “If you really cared about your appearance, you’d stop spewing crap in public.” See? So much easier to deal with the morons when you have the right comebacks. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-what-on-earth-for/143977/26 "2002-12-21T12:14:24Z")
Shoes! Ugh! Another ran-around-barefoot-as-a-young’un checking in. Summertime, my “shoes” are Birkenstocks. In the winter, shoes comes off as soon as I’m indoors. Not that shoes aren’t useful - sometimes. Like, to keep snow off my feet in winter. Protect them little puppies from rough terrain outside. But I don’t wear 'em unless I _need_ 'em. Now if only we could make toe-socks the norm… I mean, I don’t like to wear mittens on my hands, why ever would I want to wear them on my feet? I like being able to wiggle my toes. Foot-gloves forever! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-what-on-earth-for/143977/27 "2002-12-21T12:16:09Z")
By the way - barefooters tend to have MUCH healthier feet - no ingrown toenails, no deformed toes, no (or much fewer) bunions, no hammertoes… none of those “OOOOOOOOOH! My feet are KILLING me” days. Less foot odor. Less athlete’s foot. Barefoot is better [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-what-on-earth-for/143977.md?page=1)