From: Christopher Roat
Subject: Barefoot in Princeton
Date: Sat, 4 Apr 1998 14:02:41 EST

Hello all...

	On Tuesday, I woke up to another gorgeous day with mostly sunny skies
and highs in the upper 60s and headed to Princeton, NJ, home of Princeton
University.  This is a rather upscale neighborhood and I garnished many a stare
from the well-dressed local business people as I wandered about the main street
of town--Nassau Street.  The sidewalks were smooth and relatively clean.  Most
of the small stores were antique shops and upscale clothing stores of little
interest to me, but those which were made no mention of my bare feet. I even
signed up a small handmade jewelry store (Sunshine Design) for the Bare-Feet
OK! campaign.  I also put up a bunch of Barefoot Hikers flyers on the local
public bulletin boards scattered about the street.  The sidewalks were quite
warm by mid-afternoon and felt great beneath my feet which picked up a good
deal of dirt along the way.

	I couldn't resist the urge to wander the Princeton University campus.  I
walked through the Nassau Street gate into a large open courtyard with trees
and a grassy lawn.  The X-shaped path that crossed the courtyard was filled
with sharp black gravel.  While the actual gravel fill was not overly
difficult for my toughened soles, places where stray gravel crossed onto paved
paths proved a bit uncomfortable.  At that point, I wandered off into the cool
grass to protect my feet.  I saw many students relaxing on the lawns outside
of the buildings, sitting on benches outside the library or relaxing on
benches throughout campus, enjoying the warm afternoon sun.   I couldn't even
begin to count the number of students laying about barefoot.  Yet I saw none
who did not have their shoes, mostly sandals, resting somewhere near at hand.
None ventured far without putting on their shoes. How sad!!  I only spied one
other true barefooter who obviously was going about his on-campus business
bare-soled.  He passed ahead of me on one path, a big guy, and I could tell by
his lack of reaction to the sharp gravel, as well as his very black soles,
that he was a habitual barefooter.  Unfortunately, I couldn't catch up to him.
So, in answer to the "Where have all the barefoot students gone?" I only saw
one on the entire campus of Princeton U.--even after spending 2 hours there on
a sunny spring day. :-(

	On my way home, I drove through my favorite hangout--New Hope. Of
course, I couldn't resist stopping and wandering town for a bit.  It was about
6-30 pm and the sun had set, but the pavement and sidewalks still had some
residual heat from the day.  I wandered into a store called the Three Cranes
Gallery.  The store was inhabited by a young girl (late teens, early 20s)
behind the counter and a friend who was talking to her.  I browsed about the
store, checking out Native American Medicine Bag necklaces.  The girl behind
the counter was wearing long blue jeans but she put her foot up to show her
friend something which she thought was poison ivy.  I could see clearly that
she was completely barefoot.  I asked if she lost her shoes and she said she
didn't like them.  She showed her soles to me (which were quite black, actually
blacker than mine) and we compared.  She somewhat gleefully pointed out that
her soles were dirtier than mine, just from walking about on the store's
carpet.  She was also wearing anklets, a few silver toe rings, and light blue
toenail polish.  I was thoroughly impressed with her dirty soles.  After
glancing behind the counter, I asked if she even had shoes with her. She
replied that they were in the car.  At that point, I knew I'd found a
barefooter, so I got out a Barefoot Hikers flyer and gave it to her. I answered
a few questions before heading on my way.

	I stopped for dinner at an outdoor sidewalk cafe and the watress made
no comment on my bare soles, even though by then they were noticeably grubby.
During the meal, I began chatting with three ladies at the next table who, by
some coincidence, go to a music conservatory in PRINCETON.  I bought them a
drink after they became interested in the strawberry daicquiri I was drinking.
To return the favor, I asked them to place a few flyers at their school for me.
They complied and asked a few ccurious questions about Barefoot Hiking, such
as, "Don't your feet hurt?, etc."  I left the waitress a good tip (as I feel it
is good practice to do so to give a good impression of barefooters--of course I
always tip rather well as I'm "in the business").  I also thanked her for not
having a problem with my bare feet as many restaurants do.  She said, "Why not?
It's outside. It's summer (weather I assume she meant). But I don't know if the
bar (indoor) would've let you in." Actually though I got stares but was not
confronted when I went in to use the restroom.

	So it was another great barefoot day, though I was again saddened by
the lack of other free soles encountered in my travels.


Barefoot Chris