No one wants to see your feet.

And it's unsanitary for you.

Also if this is about indoors it's to protect you from stuff on the floor. If s small shard of glass is on the floor you might cut your foot and then it's super unsanitary for everyone including you.

Just don't be barefoot outside areas you should be barefoot.

But do you get hookworm through your shoes? The unsanitary part is not entirely just about what you leave behind from your (attested to) clean feet, but also what you can pick up from the decidedly unclean environment.

You could have micro-tears in your skin that will alow dirt, germs, bacteria and other pathogens entry into your system.

Athlete's foot is a fungus. Walking barefoot either allows you to get the fungus on your feet or spread it if you already have it.

Then there are the other hazards, broken glass, nails, sharp or hard items.

I got a shard of glass in my foot from a broken plate. It would move in and out of my foot. It took 3 weeks to finally get it removed.

"Being barefoot" isn't innately unsanitary. though a lot of people might just not want to see your feet.

With that said, most people don't want your shoes all over the place, either.

And it'd absolutely be unsanitary to walk around barefoot outside. Because nobody really cleans that.

It's not. I spent the entirety of my youth being barefoot at every opportunity... all summer long, every summer. Never had any problems. Still go barefoot whenever possible and have fewer foot problems than when I wear shoes.

Who uses glass plates?

I otherwise am in full agreement, but a glass plate seems like a terrible idea.

I also just learned they exist.

I do. Corning Corelle dishware is made from a type of glass, not porcelain or clay as is China or stoneware.

As mentioned in my post, my family has used it since its introduction in the early 1970. Here is a website that describes it.

Glass science at the holiday dinner table: How Corelle dishes are made - The American Ceramic Society https://ceramics.org/ceramic-tech-today/glass-science-at-the-holiday-dinner-table-how-corelle-dishes-are-made#:~:text=Corelle%20dishes%20are%20made%20of,three%20thermally%2Dbonded%20glass%20layers.

Thank you! I did some research, and sure enough they seem solid. Appreciate the link!

You, apparently, got the one bad one! =)

"And if you’re familiar with Corelle dishes, then you’re also familiar with their uncanny durability. Drop one of those bad boys and they’re likely to bounce, not break."

God help you if they do. Breaks onto thousands of shards. It's like sand coming from the beach.

We've broken enough over the 30 years in the house we will NEVER get all of the shards out of the house.

Under the stove, the refrigerator, behind the toaster, in that ugly vase you got from that one aunt as wedding present still in the box (how the heck did a shard of Corelle even get in that box?)

I got a piece stuck in my foot two years ago it took three weeks to get it out.

Wound care nurse here. People who routinely go barefoot, especially outside, put themselves at a much higher risk of developing a limb-threatening infection. This especially applies if they’re diabetic or a smoker, but you don’t have to be either of those to pick up a nasty bug that creates an abscess. If the infection reaches bone, the simple fact that your foot is the furthest place from your heart (affecting circulation) means you may not even heal it after a prolonged course of IV antibiotics. If that happens, the next step is generally amputation.

Keep your feet clean, wear shoes, moisturize. And for the love of Pete, ALWAYS wear shoes if you’re diabetic, even house shoes indoors, and inspect your skin daily. Try not to listen to “well I’ve never had anything happen to me personally, so it’s fine” advice you read from randoms on the internet.

(P.S. If your shoes are causing problems, then they very likely don’t fit properly or have a poor design.)

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I have a full set I use at specific holidays.

I also have a random glass luncheon sized plate I use for most of my solo meals. Pottery breaks, glass breaks.

I’m guessing that the question is related to businesses that require shoes.

A few reasons that have come up over the years are: people bringing in dirt from outside (which happens more with shoes with any texture to the sole), a general classist view of barefoot=poor=dirty, a legal protection for the business in regards to people getting injured in their building.

I’m a former barefooter who occasionally relapses. I’m barefoot at home, in socks at client homes unless they are so dirty it’s not wise, and tend to minimalist shoes with nice toe boxes. I will walk barefoot on park grass, I have hiked in thicker forest duff barefoot (but know the real risks and they exist), I even tried true barefoot running (pre rise of “barefoot shoes”).

Growing up, I had multiple neighbors who were barefoot outside of school and animal chores. Only two cases of hookworm in almost 19 years.

In a city, I have defaulted to shoes.

Do diabetics need to wear shoes in the house just to prevent all the things you mentioned? Or is there more to it then just that?

That's pretty much it. The big thing about diabetes and feet is that it makes it so any wounds you do get on your feet are much harder to heal, so the most simple preventative measure is to just try not to get wounds on your feet.

You realize this is like saying “I’ve never been murdered, so murder doesn’t exist!!”

Yes. I would add too that many diabetics have neuropathy, so something small will lodge itself into their skin and they literally cannot feel it the way “normal” people can.