Here’s a #tbt to just this past Thursday which was the day TOMs encouraged everyone to not wear shoes in order to 1) gain awareness to what it’s like for the millions of people who don’t have shoes and 2) help donate a pair by taking a picture of your bare feet and posting it. Usually they donate when you buy their products but last Thursday they gave away 296,243 extra pairs just because of the posted hashtag #withoutshoes. It didn’t seem like a big deal to go barefoot all day, and there’s even a romantic feeling that spilled over me at first until I learned that:
There are hazards everywhere! Instead of looking around at the people and scenery around me I learned pretty quickly that I should constantly peek down to take stock of the seemingly endless fresh bits of broken glass that my son and I could step on. This was in a pretty well maintained urban city so imagine what most people come across!
Even in Venice Beach people give you The Eye! I had people staring at me with this look that said “that girl in the wide-rimmed hat with the baby doesn’t LOOK homeless, but why doesn’t she have shoes on?” I really did not expect this, especially since we were just a few blocks from the beach. Snobs abound.
My feet are PANSIES! Okay, my feet have taken me on many adventures around this planet and through two pregnancies so they themselves rock, but my feet SKIN seriously needs to toughen up. This time conjured up for me visceral reminders of what my feet used to feel like when I was a kid running around without shoes all summer! Callous remover? Next time I’ll ask for callouses adhesive because I felt EVERYTHING and at first flinched just when I was on some light gravel. Toughen up, tootsies; I can’t wait for the next pieds nus day!
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