Jim Bunny Rogers Rabbits www.sunlive.co.nz

It was a source of deep offence whenever I 'let the dogs out”. Her words, not mine.

I'd have my feet safely out of sight under the work desk where I would quietly slip out of the FLorsheims and free up the phalanges. Aaaah yes! A simple, primal joy – kicking off the shoes to feel the sun, sea, grass or, in this case, the manky industrial carpet squares of the newsroom beneath the bare feet.

But, sooner or later, the 'dogs” would wander from beneath the desk, and her cry would go up 'the dogs are out again” and 'ah yuk” and 'disgusting”.

‘Dogs' is not new-fangled young speak. It's probably Cockney rhyming slang of 110 years ago. Dogs equals dog meat equals feet. Obvious isn't it? And here's me presuming feet had become ‘dogs' simply because they stank and they strayed.

Not sure if my proclivity for barefeet – and or jandals – is a lifestyle statement, a statement for freedom of choice or just out-and-out laziness. Actually it's the latter because I can't be bothered putting shoes on. I just remember the school bell ringing at end of term, the shoes coming off, and they didn't go on again until next term. It started right back then.

I don't claim to be a trailblazer. Mankind has functioned very well for a very long time without shoes. Feet are one of nature's marvels of engineering which can support their owner very well without help, without shoes. Our mum didn't mind our bare feet because scrubbing them at days end was easier and more pleasant than the cumulative pong of four pairs of adolescent socks.

Joseph DeRuvo

Then, this week, a bloke called Joseph DeRuvo walked barefoot into my life. Hannahs, Florsheims, Birkenstocks and Dr. Martens must hate him, and his like, because ‘Saint' Joseph has been living an almost entirely barefoot existence around Norwalk, Connecticut, for 20 years. He has good reason. He has inoperable bunions but he also likes feeling grounded. Aaah – a soulmate. Another ‘earther', another ‘grounder' as we barefooters like to be known. I feel normalised.

Weird

But then it gets weird. DeRuvo has learning disabilities which come with sensory issues – and shoelessness helps him cope. Cuckoo! He also gets a little bit 'edgier” than normal if not connected to the ground. The connection offers him calm. And it's spiritual for him. Of course it is. Very quickly this has all turned whacko!

I am just a shorts, T-shirt and barefeet kind of old guy. I don't try to complicate it. The suggestion that going barefoot should also offer me 'reduced inflammation, improved sleep, stress relief, prevention of heart disease and improved mental health” just seems to be a whole lot of alternative bollocks.

Because I am still the same maladjusted, wrung out, cantankerous old bastard that I ever was…and all that after a lifetime of avoiding shoes.

But, interestingly, what Joseph DeRuvo did expose, apart from his toes, was social injustice. Shops couldn't deal with his bare feet, and asked him to leave. They'd insist 'shoes are required due to Health Department regulations”. Simply not true – don't believe it, don't accept it. DeRuvo would remind them 'no shirt, no shoes, no service” isn't an actual law.

I searched Tauranga City Council's Street Use and Public Places bylaws and the words shoes and bare feet didn't crop up once. So go forth and pitter patter down Devonport Rd. Although I presume private places can dictate a dress code like a jacket and tie for men…and shoes and socks.

But why should there be rules about bare feet? Germs don't magically jump from feet to other objects or people. Feet usually connect only with the ground or floor and pose no greater risk of spreading germs than shoes do. Hands are the real filthy menace. They contact infected surfaces and then touch other objects, people or even food. Hands are disgusting.

And there's social stigma with bare feet. I have a friend whose idea of formal is jandals. But when he broke a jandal on his way to a café, he couldn't bring himself to enter. 'I felt under-dressed. I would have felt like a homeless person going out to eat.” I have put DeRuvo's mobile on his speed dial.

Or he could talk to the Society for Barefoot Living, which has been spreading the faith for three decades.

It offers hints on getting started because it's more than just taking off your socks. You have to 'listen to your body”. I, personally, am not hearing much but apparently, 'step by step, you explore and expand”. Creepy!

Myths

The SBL shatters myths – feet, by themselves, apparently do not produce bad odour. There are barefooting FAQs – 'Should I walk differently with bare feet?”, and there's merchandise like bare bottom shoes. Check them out and tell me you aren't tempted to shred your pantyhose or Gold Tops here and now.Email: hunter@thesun.co.nz