MR. Barefoot

I am sympathetic to Mr. DeRuvo. I feel happier barefoot than in shoes and often wear very minimal shoes.  I used to do a lot of barefoot running--once/week for a few years and the reactions were highly varied. Most people either didn't notice or pretended not to notice, this is New England after all.  Very young children would notice and ask their parent, "Why that boy doesn't have to wear shoes"?  Some people would out-and-out yell at me to put on some shoes. Remember, I'm outside.  How is this their business?

One might ask, why not still run without shoes?  The answer, I've become older and less good at running.  I can still run barefoot, but it slows me down and I have greater soreness afterwards.  This is in contrast to my heyday, when barefoot runs were faster than their shod versions.  Maybe, (too good to lookup) this is where "shoddy" comes from--the slow and ungraceful running you get from having shoes on your feet.

Final note on Mr. DeRuvo: Did you get a look at his feet?  That is one long, odd-looking, big toe.  It makes me wonder--did his foot problems come from his unorthodox feet or did his feet become odd looking from years without shoes?

Althouse