You Can Go Barefoot!

How to bribe a barefoot girl

by Sharleen W.L.

If you have read the story titled "Barefoot Sisters" you would know that in the beginning mom was so opposed to her kids going barefoot in public places, but she later gave in and allowed Tania and me to do so. The following took place in my early days of barefooting in public when I was in elementary school.

It was 9:30pm on a Wednesday when dad was away on business. My oldest brother and sisters were still busy doing homework and studying, and my little brother was already in bed. I just got done with all my homework. I had karate class earlier in the evening, and so I took a shower when I got home.

Btw, I got punished in class with doing lots of push-ups (I was joking around with another kid and wasn't paying attention to the instructor), so now I was a bit tired and sleepy. I was planning to go to bed a little earlier but wanted to kinda unwind first. So I decided to go to the media room and watch TV.

Mom came into the room and asked if I would go with her to the supermarket as she just realized she was running low on groceries. She wanted someone to accompany her and help her carry stuff, and I was the only one available. But that was the last thing I wanted to do at that late hour especially when I was so tired!

I told her I was exhausted and was going to go to bed in a few minutes, but she insisted saying she needed to make breakfast for all of us in the morning, and that it wouldn't take very long. I told her she didn't need to make anything fancy as we could all get by just eating cereal, and that I would go grocery shopping with her after school.

Mom seemed to be at her wit's end. She was silent for a few seconds, and I thought that was the end of it. Then she said something totally unexpected, "You can go barefoot!"

What?! My jaw just dropped. Did I hear that right? I could go barefoot?! Didn't she know I had already showered which meant my feet were going to get all dirty again if I went out barefoot? (You see, she would normally forbid me to go out barefoot after taking a shower). And on a school night too? I was just flabbergasted.

So I was like, "seriously, mommy?!" just to make sure she wasn't losing her mind. :)

She was like, "u-huh," nodding her head.

Grocery stores are some of my favorite places to go in my bare feet, and going out barefoot late at night sounded pretty wild. Something I had never done before. Now I would get to do it with mom's blessing too! I definitely could not pass up this exciting opportunity. All my tiredness and sleepiness suddenly vanished. I was invigorated. So I said, "ok mommy, I'll go!"

I turned off the TV and walked with mom to the garage. She hugged me and said, "thank you, sweetie!"

During the day I would usually see at least a couple of other barefoot people in the supermarket but that night I was a lone barefooter. Heck, I was the only kid in there. But I was cool with that. This particular store had very dirty floors and my soles could feel the grime as I walked around. I also managed to step on some sticky stuff.

We were in there for almost an hour, and I had a really fun night. When we were standing in line at the cashier I looked at the bottoms of my feet, and they were black! Just as I had expected.

Normally, when I went out barefoot with mom she would say, "you go wash your feet now, ok!" as we arrived back home, and I would wash my dirty bare feet in front of the garage. But that night had been anything but normal. Mom was probably tired too and forgot to remind me to wash my feet when we got home.

It was like 11:15pm which was way past my bedtime. I helped her bring some of the bags in from the car and put things in the fridge. When we were done she hugged and kissed me, and said, "it was very sweet of you to come with and help me. You go to bed now, and sweet dreams!"

By that time all the excitement had worn off, and I was really drowsy. I wasn't going to go back outside and wash my feet. I was like what the heck, I'll just wash them in the morning. So I head up to my room and went straight to bed. I was pooped but also very happy, and I had a very good night sleep.

In the morning my big sister Tania, whom I shared the room with, was shocked to see me lying in bed with filthy feet as it had never happened before. I told her what happened and she couldn't stop laughing for I had always said she was gross for going to bed in her dirty feet. She also teased me to death. She was like, "are you sure you weren't sleep-walking all over town?" Argh!

Anyway, I washed my feet outside later that morning right before I put on my shoes to go to school.

I later realized that mom had actually bribed me. Telling me I could go barefoot was the only way to get me to accompany her. But who cares, right? It was also a nice treat for me. I had a wonderful time roaming the grocery store barefoot late in the night when I would normally be in bed. It was a win-win situation!

Thanks for reading. From paradise Hawaii this is Sharleen reminding you that life is magical. So...

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

Enjoy going barefoot? Check out this book!