New Realities

Some people say that having a shoes-off rule is inappropriate because many people are emabarassed about their feet and having one's feet exposed is somehow too intimate for a dinner party or other social occasion.

Are these people living in the twenty-first century or the Victorian era?

Yesterday, I had a drive out into the countrside, visiting Pershore and Ledbury in Worcestershire. About three out of five people were wearing sandals or flip flops. Nearly all women that I saw were wearing open-toed shoes. I was wearing flip flops myself.

Today I went to church and again, nearly all the women were wearing sandals or flip flops and at least half the men were wearing sandals or flip flops.

The fact is that the vast majority of people are not embarassed about having their barefeet visible. People wear sandals, they do Yoga, they go to swimming pools, they go barefoot on beaches and they have to remove their shoes at airport security checks. Removing shoes when visiting homes is simply no big deal for most people.