There is an epidemic sweeping the Cal Poly campus. It isn’t going to get you sick and it isn’t life changing but it is contagious.
The trend to walk barefoot is growing.
Personally, I don’t understand why people are not wearing shoes around campus these days. It used to be an occasional occurrence to see peers traveling around campus shoeless. A phenomenon which would be dismissed with a shake of the head and chalked up to a random event most likely spread on Facebook. However, today students-sans-shoes can be seen stomping around campus.
This recent influx baffles me. It sounds utterly disgusting to walk around campus without proper shoes. College students aren’t known to be the most sanitary people as it is, so to walk around a campus barefoot is an interesting choice – although it is probably cleaner than a fraternity house. Even the students living in the dorms wear shoes to the bathrooms and showers. There are more diseases manifesting on the grounds around a college campus than in a scientific research laboratory (this might be an exaggeration, but you get my point). The reason we get medical shots, wear clothing and bathe is to prevent contracting diseases. The no-shoe-wearing “free souls” are just setting themselves up to expose their bodies to unsanitary situations.
While the students around here may be “green,” the trash littering Cal Poly’s campus could lend people to believe otherwise. As “green” as we are, there is still trash littering the campus which unsuspecting bare feet will inevitably trample over. The large amount of foreign objects such as disregarded cigarette butts, papers, various sharp objects (most likely from a student project) and construction equipment around campus can’t be safe. I don’t see these people carrying around first-aid kits, so I wonder what they plan on doing if an inevitable gash occurs on the way to class.
The sporting of footwear is just a preventative measure humans have been taking for centuries now. From a young age we are taught “safety first,” so college students should suck it up, slide into some shoes and stop dismissing this age-old euphemism.
We aren’t limited in the style or color available so what’s happening to their soles? For those who long to be at the beach, there are sandals that range in style from thongs to gladiators to flip-flops to Birkenstocks. There are sneakers such as athletic running shoes, laid back brands like Vans, Converse and the now-popular Toms and high-tops from brands like Nike and Adidas for those seeking more full-foot coverage. Finally, there are boots which can be worn to combat the elements and provide protection at work — they are definitely not just for women. Types of boots include Ugg-style, cowboy, rain, thigh-high and steel-toe. I didn’t even touch the tip of the iceberg in what I have listed here.
Therefore, I am putting my foot down — in my shoe.
People should take into consideration the sanitation and protection footwear offers before leaving their residence sans shoes which have proven to be stylish as well. And if they still can’t manage to squeeze their sausages into the constraints of traditional footwear, I suggest looking into Vibram Five Fingers. These “non-shoes” are meant to stimulate the feeling of being barefoot while still protecting feet from the dangers of the outside world.
It’s obvious sanitation logic — just wear shoes.