Hey Emily! I didn't know I had another barefoot "neighbor" close by.

Do you run barefoot? Maybe we could meet up down by the Portland
waterfront sometime and run the river parks.

Ryan
Vancouver


--- In RunningBarefoot@yahoogroups.com, Emily Troper <emtroper@...> wrote:
>
> My kids go barefoot everywhere here in Portland, year round, but we do
> get comments and stares (just the other day at the airport) and a lot
> of kids point out to their parents that my kids are barefoot (I assume
> the thinking is either "why do I have to wear shoes if those kids
> don't?" or "ooh, look, those kids are bad"). :) It was interesting
> that on our recent 10-day trip to Seattle we didn't get any comments
> or trouble from anyone (even in nice restaurants and museums).
>
> My husband and I do wear shoes (as does our teenager) but the younger
> three do not, ever. I do often bring shoes for the kids with me (in
> the car, or in my purse) because some stores/restaurants actually DO
> have a policy that states that everyone must wear shoes - but mostly
> people just THINK that it's a law or a policy when it's really not.
> And we can choose whether we want to shop there if our children are
> not welcome with their feet. At Fred Meyer last year, an employee
> told me the kids had to have shoes and I asked him if it was store
> policy - he said yes and I asked to see the policy in writing - after
> talking to several people, managers, etc. they could not produce it,
> and it turns out that it's NOT a store policy. It's not a health
> code, law, etc. and yes my child might step on a piece of glass now
> and then but they have tough feet and a small cut is not life
> threatening anyway - and barefooting is not dirty - first of all one
> doesn't eat or open doors with their feet, and the bottom of my
> child's feet are no more dirty than the bottom of their shoes would be
> - actually the feet are probably cleaner because we wash them
> frequently - I don't ever wash the bottom of my shoes! Anyway, I
> could go on and on...I do want to make a little pamphlet explaining
> that it's a personal choice, intentional, healthy and nothing for
> people to worry about! :)
>
> Emily
>