This is the 2nd time I've seen this kid, both times with a burrito, and NO shoes. It's in SOMA, and he has a fancy backpack + headphones, so he's probs some techie millionaire too good for shoes. DO BETTER


Someone posted this on Facebook, having captured me on my urban walk to work. Amidst discussion of how someone could have possibly married me and how I can be inside a restaurant with no shoes and which other crazy people don't wear shoes and the inexorable hippie onslaught and just what is that on my back, Chloe (who, as it turns out, is friends with said someone) notices:

Chloe: Omg that's my husband, Nick Winter!!! Hilarious! XD
OP: OMG Chloe this just got awkward ... So explain
Chloe: Hahaha no I think it's super funny because I hate when he goes out in public without shoes but he does it when when I'm not around. No offense taken at all!
OP: But whyyyyyy.. I know for a fact there was broken glass on the corner of 4th + Townsend
Chloe: He has hated shoes since he was young, and has gotten used to walking barefoot everywhere. Dislikes being confined in them, similar to the distaste some people have for wearing suits. I like & want him to be himself, so I only require that he washes his feet thoroughly when coming home.
OP: haha fair enough. but his taste in burrito joints is on point! i knew he looked familiar...


Then there was a flurry of posts saying how this thread is what Facebook is made for and how something great/terrible has happened for social media this day. I was amused. I feel like I've really connected with the OP now, whereas when I saw her in the burrito place, she was just another NPC to me as we each quietly strummed our phones waiting for Mexican food and moments with familiar faces.

It is interesting to sample how other people see me, especially since I'm normally quite blind to it. Right after I finished my burrito, a seemingly homeless woman grabbed my butt and asked me if I ever liked to get naughty. I guess when it comes to the barefoot thing, you either love it or hate it.

At least they didn't catch me during my casual Friday bathrobe commute.

Barefoot FAQ:

"But glass?!" You can walk right over it, no problem.

"Hobo dog baby poop urine?" Egregious excrement is easily evaded. Plus, you wash your feet more often than you wash your shoes.

"Restaurants?" When you dress like a refugee, they don't let you in. When you dress like a reasonable socializing gentleman (sans shoes), they say nothing.

"Crushing societal disapproval channeled through wife who has to be seen with you?" I usually oblige my sweetheart and put on some shoes if she's around.