OSPREY MAGAZINE
			Humbolt State University, Arcata, CA
			     Fall 1995, pp. 7, 25


		Dirty Soles ain't half bad
		Barefooters prefer to walk without the ties that bind


	From the ankles up, Paul J. Lucas is pretty average.  It's his
	feet that stick out in a crowd.  Lucas doesn't wear shoes -- he
	just doesn't like them.
	  Lucas is a computer scientist for NASA Ames Research Center.
	He lives in Mountain View, Calif., and his love for bare feet
	led him to start the Dirty Sole Society -- an interest group
	for bare-footers.
	  The group is one of those Internet phenomenons with more than
	80 members nationwide sharing information electronically.
	  "Shoes aren't as necessary as most people believe and dirty
	soles are nothing to be ashamed of," Lucas said.
	  "Our society is so into covering up all aspects of being
	human -- deodorants, cologne, perfume, wrinkle cream, anti-gray
	hair lotion.  Heaven forbid you smell like nothing at all or
	even a bit musky from an honest day's work, have a wrinkle, or
	a gray hair!" he said.
	  Lucas is quick to point out that he is not a masochist and
	walking barefoot feels good.
	  Like social outcasts, "many DSS members thought they were all
	alone in their desire to be barefoot, " Lucas said.  Although
	there are no DSS members in Humboldt county, the area has its
	share of bare feet.
	  Healther Silva, a history junior at College of the Redwoods,
	has walked barefoot her whole life.
	  In elementary school, her mother had her see a psychiatrist
	because she made a fuss when told to put her shoes on in the
	morning.
	  "She thought there was something else wrong with me," Silva
	said.
	  At her prom and high school graduation, she wore ribbons on
	her feet fashioned like sandals.
	  "I feel real clumsy with shoes on, "she said.
	  Silva said the "real joy" of shoelessness is experiencing
	another of the body's senses.
	  "It sounds silly, but it's really awesome," she said. "To
	walk in the forest here, it feels so good on your feet, it's so
	massaging."
	  Lucas enjoys feeling the different textures and temperatures
	unknown to shoe wearers.  At work he can play with cables that
	line the floor under his desk.
	  Nelli Keel, a wildlife biology freshman at HSU, said being
	barefoot allows "a heightened sensation, whereas with shoes
	everything's kind of deadened."  Sand is her favorite surface
	to walk on.
	  Depending on the person, soles will "toughen up" or develop
	calluses after one to three months of walking barefoot without
	shoes, barefooters say.
	  Keel has walked barefoot for two years.
	  "My feet are so tough now that stepping on anything besides a
	really sharp piece of glass, I won't feel it," she said.
	  Barefooters say toughened soles are still sensitive, but have
	a higher tolerance for uncomfortable objects.
	  "It's like leather armor on the bottom of your foot," Silva
	said.
	  Silva has had bruises and stubbed toes, but said her real
	problems have been with shoes causing blisters and sore feet.
	  Keel has had two minor cuts in two years and said being
	barefoot makes her subconsciously more aware of where she's
	placing her feet when she walks.
	  According to Lucas, broken glass is not "all over the place"
	as many people believe.
	  "The point is, shit happens.  I cut my fingers, scrape my
	knuckles, bang my head, bite my tongue, eat ice-cream too fast
	and get sunburned," he said.  "Nobody asks me why I don't wear
	gloves, [or] a helmet."
	  "The pleasure of walking barefoot outweighs the occasional
	mishap," Lucas said.
	  Broken glass is also an issue for some store owners.
	  Lucas has discussed the issue with proprietors.  There are no
	laws prohibiting bare feet in a store or restaurant, he said,
	but a fear of lawsuits keeps the restriction in place.
	  To turn the tables on feet phobics, Lucas points out that for
	all the times you get your knuckles scraped, your fingers
	caught in doors, smashed by hammers, sliced by knives, or
	burned, you never think "this would not have happened if I wore
	gloves."
	  The only bad experiences Lucas has had have been the
	occasional hassle of being asked to leave a store, but that has
	happened only three times in three months.
	  "I have been furnishing my apartment...and have done all
	shopping barefoot," he said.
	  Barefooters tend to wear footwear in restaurants because
	those are the places most likely to raise objections.  Keel
	said proprietors "think that the grit that gets on your shoes
	when you walk outside is not as bad as the grit that gets on
	your feet."
	  Feet in shoes and socks sweat and are host to a lot of
	bacteria and its waste products, which cause foot odor, but
	people think of shoe'd feet as "clean" because the bacteria is
	not visible, Lucas said.
	  When Silva lived in Southern California, she was constantly
	hassled.  She attended College of the Canyons in Valencia and
	was teased.  She was even yelled by a stranger from a distance
	to 'put your shoes on!'
	  Bare feet in Humboldt County however is "not that big a deal,"
	she said.
	  "It's like people who wear hats and don't wear hats, it
	doesn't seem like it's really important, that different," Silva
	said.
	  When barefooters do wear shoes, it's not necessarily to
	please store owners.  There are situations where shoes are
	preferred and the preference varies with each person.  Some
	people wear them when running, hiking, bicycling, or when it
	rains.  Some people even drive barefoot, although it takes
	getting used to.
	  Contrary to urban legend, it is legal to drive barefoot in
	California.
	  "Driving with shoes sucks...I'm used to driving barefoot,"
	Silva said.
	  Footwear is first and foremost a protective device, like a
	hard hat, Lucas said.
	  "I put on sneakers for moving heavy or bulky objects,
	especially on stairs," he said.  "I'm barefoot unless there's a
	good reason to wear shoes."
	  Bare feet require care, which may include rubbing down
	thickened calluses about once a month, Keel said.  Anyone
	considering shoelessness should consult a health professional
	about proper care.
	  The DSS slogan is "set your feet free and your mind will
	follow."  So don't judge barefooters until you've walked a mile
	in their soles, but be sure to take that first mile on soft
	ground until you toughen up.
	  The Dirty Sole Society can be reached on the World Wide Web
	at http://www.barefooters.org/.

						-- Andrew Jones