As my tweet indicated, I don't know what compels people to go shirtless and shoeless on BART just because the weather is hot. I really don't enjoy seeing people's sweaty bodies up close and could also really do without being forced to catch glances of people's feet. OK, it wasn't that many people going around without shoes and shirts but I did encounter at least 4 patrons like that today and 2 of them look like they were homeless.
You see that in Hawaii in casual eateries and the local Walmart but that's just the vibe and culture. On a BART train in the SF Bay Area during commute hours...not OK.
16 comments:
But were they at least hot?
Good question. Answer is NO!
Love your blog, but I am curious why it only lists the time and not the date for your older postings and comments. It would be helpful to know the date for context.
You just know it's these same trashy people who wander around like that, and when they get home they complain about how San Francisco isn't taken seriously as a city and isn't that a shame, blah blah blah. I have no idea if dress codes = serious city, but when's the last time you saw a bunch of smelly bro clones waddling around midtown manhattan in boardies and flip flops?
Hey bartmusings- Interesting article on courtesy on Metro that you might like: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/26/AR2009052603286.html
While it can be hard to believe, not everyone who goes shoeless is some sort of slob who doesn't care about their appearance.
In my case, wearing shoes causes me a great deal of back pain. Yes, yes, I tried everything; inserts, orthotics, all sorts of expensive treatments and surgeries that did nothing but give me scars. This is my payment for being a stupid 18 year old kid who decided to ride in the back of a pickup truck 20+ years ago. Yes, my doctor knows about and endorses this.
I'm neat. I dress nicely. I shave and shower every day. I certainly don't smell (other than of cologne & soap). And I probably wash my feet a lot more than you ever wash your shoes. (Hint: Feet smell because of shoes - they are filled with fungal spores, bacteria, sweat and dead skin. A nice, moist, dark place for those critters to grow.)
So much for San Francisco being a tolerant place.
A final question: Do flip flops bother you, too?
Oh, I won't disagree that all the shoeless folk wandering around BART and our fair city have some sort of medical condition, AJ. It's just that in your case it's physical instead of mental.
Good job on holding off 'til the very end with the San Francisco grudgewank. I bet your arches were damn near collapse holding out that long.
First of all, to answer AJ's question, flip flops are considered shoes as you're not making direct contact with the ground. I'm not trying to pick on people with medical conditions that require them to walk barefoot. I'm talking about people who feel that just because the weather is warm and they are feeling hot, it is OK to parade around without shirt and shoes. This has nothing to do with tolerance or one's right to be expressive through wardrobe choices.
I don't have your back problems, AJ, but I can only imagine how tough it must be to walk on the roads, to the escalators then to the platform all without soles. I see all sorts of liquids (i.e. pee) and solids being deposited on the sidewalks near the CC BART station and there is no way I would ever let my feet touch it directly. I can only imagine how often you must wash your feet and I'm glad to hear that you do. Hope your back problem improves. Sounds terrible.
I can totally understand why you would not yourself want to walk barefoot (through the pee :-) ), but I find it a bit more difficult to understand why it causes you such anxiety to see others do so. They're not making anything worse for you, practically speaking, as the bottom of their feet are just doing what the bottom of people's shoes would be doing. (If they put their feet on the seats, then I would say they should not just like people should keep their shoes off the seats.) You say yourself that flip-flops get the blanket approval from you, but visually, are they not almost the same?
I can kind of understand where you are coming from from an emotional this-is-how-it-makes-me-feel standpoint, but logically, I'd say it doesn't make sense. That is, it shouldn't bother you.
You say it's part of the culture in Hawaii but not here -- but who defines the culture? And even if that were true, is it wrong to buck the culture? There are consequences to be had (such as being viewed with disapproval by others), but I'd say that's more an issue of the disapprover than the disapprovee.
Sorry if anyone is overanalyzing what I'm saying. People typically walk with shoes in SF, especially while taking a commuter train. It's just my opinion-- I wear shoes while on BART, people I know wear shoes on BART. Never meant to offend.
How dare you impose your evil consumerist mentality on us?!? This is America and we are free to walk barefoot in puddles of urine if we want to!!!
People don't walk around without shoes here, if they do, they are either homeless or they shoudl be living in a tree.
Not sure whether your response was including me, but you certainly didn't offend me. So no worries!
"me no like" != "not ok"
Just so's we're clear on the distinction.
get a grip you f*cking tree huggers. 99.9% of people in this society walk around with shoes.
I am a complete and total jagoff.
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