What if you have a hole in your socks? It’s just a little one. It’s not like people don’t get holes in their socks. Would you consider that a problem?
What if you skipped showering now and then? It’s not like people don’t sweat or have body odor when they miss a shower or two. It’s natural, right? Where’s the problem?
There is such a thing as professional office conduct. Yes, some rules may seem overly strict and limiting to your sense of personal freedom but the rules exist so that people keep to a certain minimal professional standard. Nobody is offende when you are showered and dressed appropriately and it should not feel like an impossition on you. If it is, perhaps office work is not for you.
There a lot of people in the world who equate grooming particulars with ability to work. If I show up one day and I am freshly shaven, I will do a particular quality of work. These people feel that if I show up the next day and I have not shaved, I will not meet the previous day’s quality. Likewise, if I grow a beard, need a haircut, have a stained or ripped shirt, mismatched shoes, no underwear, bermuda shorts, rope belt, facial tattoos… None of these things have any affect whatsoever on my ability to do my job, but if I were to cross those lines, my job would be in danger, not because it would affect my ability to do my job, but because there are people out there who think it would affect my ability to do my job.
It’s a just a learned response that some think the bare feet is “wrong” in the workplace. It could just as well have been learned that it’s unprofessional not to dab mashed potatoes behind your ears before going to work.
I am grossed out by feet unless they are perfectly pedicured. And very few people have perfectly pedicured feet. There’s nothing worse than a thick-toenailed, callousy foot in a pair of sandals or barefoot. barf
Seems to me it would be a problem from a liability standpoint. For example, if they didn’t specifically say that shoes were required, you might stub and break a toe and sue them for pain and suffering.
You’re not going to do that, of course, but legal minds have to work this way.
For the love of all things holy, no! With Birkenstocks the appropriate accessory is either a fanny-pack or one of those brightly colored draw-string shoulder bags.