One Day Without Shoes

[FMC]

Did anyone else participate in April 8's "One Day without Shoes" day put on by TOMS shoes?

I walked about three miles barefoot around Portland, OR.  I'd love to have run, but I was walking with a group of people.  It was a good experience.

[inbetweenmytoes]

"One Day Without Shoes" just so happened to work well into my training regime. I'm trying to use barefoot running as a way to develop better form in my VFF. What a great cause, getting shoes on the feet of children that have to worry about 'unsafe roads and contaminated soil.'

[iain]

It is interesting that while the children that Toms supports are in need of shoes, there are some in the developed world not wanting shoes! There seems to be a contradiction here...

Possible reasons seem to be social:
Contaminated soil - possibly due to lack of infrastructure (sewers etc)
Medical access - for foot infections
Social status - like as part of school uniforms

What are other peoples thoughts on this apparent contradiction?

[hinogi]

There is no contradiction if you apply common social norms like people wearing shoes, like the most people in the modern world shoes are essential. Only a few people have overcome that paradigm And the no-shoe event was for the masses and not for the special people who decided to wear shoes anyway.
Whats more disturbing is that those event is more limited to areas with accommodating temperatures, in all videos you see people in shorts and bare feet so not much contribution from Europe because its still kind of cold here. It really gets a different flavour if you go out barefoot in colder conditions.
I guess it would have been smarter to send medical supplies than shoes, one day without meds would have had a far greater impact I bet
Another funny thing to see, although it was called on day without shoes, everyone took their socks off also. It will be interesting to see how people turn out after those events, in some videos people dedicated themselves to walking 10miles barefoot or the whole year or something as if this was some sort of atonement, I guess some of them will realize that its more like a self-given gift

[bigtruckguy3500]

I did it.  I really enjoyed it.  Definitely got some strange looks on campus, but I saw a couple other folks doing it.

If you think about it though, most of us are fortunate enough to have clean streets and better surfaces to walk on.  On the other hand, many areas in the developing world have dirt/gravel roads and their bust surface would be grassy areas where it may not be trimmed down and snakes or other dangers could be hiding.

[Hawkeye]

Shoes won't protect against snakes, unless they're heavy boots. Ironic how we're all going barefoot, but we're trying to shod the world. LOL. Hell the kids can have all my cushioned running shoes. I just gave away some nikes to goodwill today.

[inbetweenmytoes]

Sure, it seems ironic that we are all moving towards being barefoot and are having a discussion about getting shoes on children. Sure, it would help to send medical supplies or help to develop infrastructure. There's always something 'better' that can be done. Until we choose to do that something, we can hardly criticize. Shoes will protect from communal washrooms covered in waste, from dirt play areas rittled with broken glass and rusted metal, from extreme weather that can burn or freeze. Shoes to us are a choice. Shoes to many third world children are a luxury that can bless (remember the shoes that Toms are providing aren't over-engineered Nikes). I have spent almost 2 1/2 years in a third world country where shoes and clothing were a godsend. I've seen the faces of orphans light up when they receive a second change of clothes or a pair of shoes they desperately needed. Whether what Toms is doing is the 'best' thing that can be done or not is always going to be an arguable point to barefoot or minimalist shoe runners, but, from my experience, whether it is good is far less disputable. Everyone can do something to make the world a better place. What is it going to be?

[iamcam]

I participated in this last year and this year. The kids TOMS wants to shoe are kids who are getting a disease called podoconiosis (spelling?) which is this volcanic ash that gets in their feet and infects them and leads to amputations and even death at times. I think it's a really good cause. If that was happening to people I knew, you can bet I'd want shoes. Even vibram linked to it on their facebook page.

[Scoutleaderky]

I probally had my VFF's on that day, does that count?

[morgan_4785]

anyone have thoughts on doing this in a school? im always for helping out and i think itd be great to have students pay a dollar to go without shoes for the day. then all the money could go to toms and id have a nice reason to not wear shoes.

[hinogi]

I probally had my VFF's on that day, does that count?

VFF are shoes so I guess not And such a day is about some kind of sacrifice and not comfort although this transition may be a bit vague for the long term barefoot runners of course