The Failed Cute (Barefoot) Girl Trick

by Sharleen W.L.

Aloha, this is Sharleen! Hope your enjoying life as its meant to be wherever you are, barefoot or not. This is going to be a very short post for a change. :) Enjoy it!

One evening my little brother Kevin and I were going out on a "mock date" (he loves to go out with his favorite sister).

I was barefoot and driving the BMW convertible with the top down. This car belongs to Tania and me (yeah, we used to share a room, now we share a car), and Kevin loves to ride in it especially when I'm driving.

So as soon as we entered the freeway, I pressed on the accelerator with my bare foot, the engine revved, and the car zoomed past all other vehicles.

Kevin had the thrill of his lifetime. He was like, "Wooww! You really know how to drive, girl!" He then jokingly said he felt like a million bucks riding in a hot car with a hot chick.

Being in a naughty mood, I did that once with mom in the car, and she almost had a heart attack. Of course, she gave me a good tongue-lashing, lol.

So we arrived at this little shopping strip as there was a store there I wanted to visit before going to dinner. I always try to find parking in the front first which is a lot more convenient than going to the parking building, but its usually a challenge. Well, that evening was no exception. There were a lot of cars and there was a parking attendant directing traffic. He was a young and quite good looking guy. :)

cute girl
Pleeease...?
When my car approached him he told me to go to the parking building in the back. I saw an empty spot but there was a "no parking" sign, so I asked him if I could just park there for a few minutes.

He said no, and I was like, "oh come on, we won't be long... pleeease...?" in a very friendly and a bit playful manner with a smile and my hands clasped.

He chuckled and said, "Sorry, Miss, I can't let you do that."
I was like, "Ok... ok...you have a great evening!"
"You too, Miss!" he replied.

I then said to Kevin, "sorry Kev, the cute girl trick didn't work this time." We both laughed. It works sometimes, though. Hey, it worked even in elementary school like when I went barefoot at school, haha! Well, sometimes you win, sometimes you don't, but you have fun either way. That's how you enjoy life.

As we were walking from the parking building to the store, we saw the parking attendant again, and we again said "hi" to each other. He was looking at my bare feet. He probably never expected me to be barefoot although its not that uncommon here on the islands to see someone barefoot driving a fancy car or wearing nice clothes.

So how was our date? It was fantastic. We both had a wonderful time. We tried to make it as real as possible so it would be a good learning experience for Kevin. He even took me home afterwards (to my room, haha!). But since we are siblings, there are certain things we just can't do. ;)

Well, I met this parking attendant guy again on another occasion. This time I was driving the family car (Mercedes GL 550) as we were going to a resterant there for a family dinner (I was barefoot as usual). We greeted each other like old friends, and he said to me, "you know where to park, right?" I laughed and said, "sure!"

Everyone was wondering how I knew him, and they all laughed when I told them the story. But mom said I should be ashamed of myself for ever trying to pull the cute girl trick. Hey, you've gotta have fun in life and not take things too seriously!

Thanks for reading. From paradise Hawaii this is Sharleen reminding you that life is magical. Yes, even when your trick fails, lol. So...

Aloha, and let's make it a magical day!

Enjoy going barefoot? Check out this book!

Photo credits:
JLaw45 with CC BY-SA 2.0
Marin - FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Comments

  1. Is your car manual or auto

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    1. It's manual. Dad taught us how to drive it :)

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    2. Awesome :)

      It be awesome if you and Sharleen can do heel toe downshifts barefoot in your BMW. Its a perfect car to practice/do it on as the pedals are close together.

      I can teach you how to do as I have done this technique not just on the racetrack but in everyday driving for years. I do it in every single downshift and I think you and Sharleen should do it as this would not only make driving manual more fun but also help reduce wear on the drivetrain components such as the gearbox and engine and even impress the passengers who see either of you two do it.

      -The goal of this is to "match" the RPM needed in the next lower gear so that the rear of the car does not become unstable while downshifting. This is critical because under hard braking, the rear of the car becomes unloaded and "light", so rear instabilities (in a rear wheel drive car) from improper downshifting will have a larger effect than expected. Yes your BMW is rear wheel drive.


      The difference to a normal downshift and heel toe down shift is the blipping of the throttle.


      To do it, follow the steps

      1. Brake like you normally would.
      2. Press the clutch in like you normally would.
      3. Now blip the throttle (accelerator) while braking by pressing it.
      4. Downshift to a gear below the gear you're on e.g 4th-3rd or 5th-4th etc.
      5. Lift the clutch like you normally would

      *Note: If step 3 is skipped, it can cause significant damage to the car's transmission because it will become highly loaded and have to match the RPM needed for a lower gear on its own. Must use ALL the steps.

      All the steps are all crammed into one because this is all done in one motion once the two of you master it. If you continue to downshift, then repeat the steps and keep braking. Best when you first try out, to follow the order.

      To blip the throttle you need to brake with the ball of your bare feet, clutch in before blipping. Now swivel your right foot and press the throttle with the heel of your foot (press the throttle pedal 40-70% of full travel). While you blip the throttle, downshift to a lower gear (must down shift in sequential order e.g 5th-4th or 3rd to 2nd you already know what I mean). Keep the clutch pressed until you downshifted and lift it back up once you complete the heel toe downshift. Now repeat the whole process if you continue to downshift. This all done very quickly.

      This may sound and look complicated but practice. If either of you two stuff up, don't get discouraged, keep practicing until it becomes second nature. I've explained this as best as I can, if you still confused, then go on youtube, they may explain it better than me.

      -Depending on the engine and throttle response of the car in use, the suggested 40-70% travel on the throttle blip is just that, a suggestion. It will take awhile to get a feel for how much is necessary and will take plenty of practice.

      Start slow and go a little bit faster until you two master it which should take only about one month or maybe a few. I recommend practicing on an empty road or an a street that's not busy.

      Sorry if this a long comment but I just wanted to encourage you and Sharleen to do the heel toe downshift on your manual BMW. Heel toe is much easier if your barefoot as you have more feel for the pedals and less chance of your foot slipping. Good luck if you two decide to try it :)

      Anyways have a great day and keep those cute feet bare. I appreciate that you two nice girls go barefoot everywhere.

      "I love my dirty soles because it feels like I've been on an adventure," :)

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    3. Wow, sounds interesting. We might give it a try :)

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    4. I just got a Nissan Skyline R33 GTR about a week ago and I've put lots of engine modifications to it myself. I even changed the five speed gearbox to a six speed.

      I was speeding at the highway at 330 kmh or 205 mph and my police radar gone off to signal me that the police was watching, so I slowed down but I was still too fast and the police car that was waiting gave me the siren so I pulled over. This cop was very nice and he noticed that I was barefoot. He told me that his family goes barefoot everywhere and he loves my car. I was very nice to him of course and I told him all the benefits to going barefoot and he liked my advice.

      The cool thing is, he let me go without issuing me a ticket or even a fine.

      Btw how's you and Sharleen's progress on the heel toe downshift.

      Be positive at all times :-)

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    5. Nice experience! Cops are humans too and can be biased. That's why it's important to get on their good side like you did. Sharleen is pretty good at playing the "cute girl trick" to get what she wants including with cops (she often gets away with speeding too), but as you can see in the above story sometimes she fails too, haha! Haven't got a chance to try the heel toe downshift yet.

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  2. How's the heel toe downshift going for you and your sister?

    If both of you haven't tried it yet then practice it while you drive somewhere e.g college, shops and restaurants.

    You can practice it anytime you want. I learned through youtube then I started to do it on the public roads everyday on every single downshift. Make it a compulsive urge to do it and eventually you'll get it.

    I wish you and your sister all the best :-)

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