Nowhere else can wearing any shoes cause as much controversy and provoke as many questions as in the American town I chose to visit in 2002.
Purchasing a Kiwi, I have adopted the proper Kiwi custom of not covering my feet throughout the scorching, protracted summers that we experience in New Zealand’s North Island.
It’s too uncomfortable to be wearing more than is necessary because it’s hot, humid, and uncomfortable. Kiwis have worn nothing but shorts and a T-shirt for months on end. My feet have changed into Kiwi feet, and unlike other people with “thin skinned soled feet” in the west, I do not feel the heat through my feet.
In New Zealand, we either go barefoot or just wear these ‘jandels’ (also known as flip flops, thongs, or slippers, depending on where you are from in the world). We are a nation of mostly barefoot people.
Children frequently don’t wear shoes to school or kick them off when they arrive, never to be seen again until the following winter, when shoes are sought.
In general, footwear is optional; the only places where it is required are factories and specific organizations where wearing closed-toed shoes is a security requirement.
I frequently lose my shoes after taking them off in a car or when entering someone’s home, and I don’t realize it until I start looking for them when I want to put them on the next time. Even in the summer, Kiwis are superb gumboot wearers.
It’s not uncommon to see farmers wearing shorts, a singlet, and gumboots; it’s a very common sight, I should say, but it’s one that’s accepted.
Many pairs of gumboots are queued up at the door, and many feet wearing socks have lightly padded through stores. Regarding footwear, we are really lax. So when I first arrived in America, the Land of the Free (yeah, we’ll get to it in a second), it kind of took me by surprise.
I landed in New Jersey, USA, at the conclusion of a winter that thankfully gave way to a stunning spring and an amazing summer. But in addition to the trees surrounding the farms where I resided experiencing fresh growth in the spring, I also experienced some personal growth in relation to some peculiar American traditions and laws.
It was simply a great opportunity to pass up to go around barefoot one specific lovely morning on the way to work on the farm. After then, the weather was fantastic. I automatically removed my shoes because I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt as my outfit.
It’s customary in America to buy coffee from one of the many, many 24-hour establishments rather than making the Kiwi point and brewing it at home before leaving for work. And since I can be flexible in certain ways, I strolled into the store to buy my daily caffeine.
A “lovely” American man who ran the store immediately saw that I had no shoes on and asked me to leave, saying, “Erm, Miss, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” I remained silent in response to his statement, and I wonder why. I didn’t steal anything from the store, did I? What is his problem? I’m just waiting for my coffee right now, as I’m in line.
Do not bother me before my daily coffee intake, so my silence was followed by a polite but a little startled “Excuse me?” I subsequently purchased “No Footwear, No Shirt, No Service” in its entirety.
It is apparently not permitted since it is unhygienic, and you might have all kinds of horrible things beneath your feet. You must also put on a shirt, which fortunately I had anticipated. Two “mistakes” in one day! ), thus men from New Zealand and Australia going around in their traditional singlets would also be frowned upon (so remarkably for a “free” country!). After a brief period of astonished silence, I said that I would get into my truck, put on my shoes, and then head back to the store.
When he heard my leaving comment, “They have horse poo and possibly dog poo underneath, but if you are happier with me bringing that into your shop instead of my clean feet, that is what you get in touch with,” the shopkeeper smiled briefly in satisfaction. Naturally, he allowed me to pay for my coffee on my bare feet and was happy to see me leave.
It’s so much simpler to let a Kiwi walk around barefoot than to have us wear shoes. In New Zealand, we have no issues with bare feet, and it’s common to see a sign at a storefront requesting that customers PLEASE TAKE OFF their shoes! Apparently, we factor things backwards down below, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
