It seems so strange to me now, but there was a brief period in my life, 28 years or so, where I rarely if ever wore flip-flops / sandals / pluggers / thongs whatever you call them. Even during the summer or trips to somewhere to swim such as the beach or a swimming pool I would always have "regular" shoes on.
These days, I rarely ever wear anything other than flip-flops and unless exercising, I genuinely feel uncomfortable when I do so. It is extremely rare that you will see me put a pair of socks and shoes on these days and I am really happy about this.
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My aversion to flippy floppies when I was living in USA was of course impacted by the seasons but even in spring and summer I would normally opt for shoes anyway and this had a lot to do with the fact that the little strap that goes between your big and second toe would get rubbed raw by the whatever you call that thing. There were other options of course, like the ones that strap all the way across the middle of your foot and things like Birkenstocks, but even these didn't seem to want to stay on my feet and I rarely used them.
Upon moving to asia, flip-flops were the norm for basically everyone and I quickly adapted although it wasn't without a bit of groaning about the aforementioned abrasion between my toes.
There were many reasons for this and none of them were because I wanted to comply with what everyone else was doing. The main reason was that whenever you were entering most businesses you are expected to remove your shoes before entering.
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Outside of places like 7-11 or a big shopping center, it is expected that you remove your shoes. Not doing so would be considered very disrespectful even though a lot of the times the bottom of my flip flops stood a good chance of being cleaner than my feet were.
Now after living in Asia for over 15 years, the idea that someone would wear shoes indoors just seems so stupid to me, yet that is exactly what I did for my entire life growing up in the States. We would even wear shoes while sitting on the sofa, sometimes even putting our shoes on the sofa.
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For the brief period of time that I was a school teacher, we were of course required to wear actual shoes but the way it was for basically every teacher was that we would buy these special shoes that didn't have backs on them, or people would intentionally stamp down the heel of them so that you could get in and out of them easily.
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Even with these "easy on / easy off" shoes I kind of felt like my feet had claustrophobia and I couldn't wait to get them off. As a teacher I had the option of keeping my shoes on in my own classroom, but rarely chose to do so because after years of basically wearing as little as possible on my feet, I can't wait to get them off.
I can't even imagine wearing shoes indoors these days and this is one thing that the cultures of South East Asia has definitely gotten right in my opinion. Think about how much filth you are tracking in with your shoes on that could simply be avoided by taking them off at the door?
I haven't lived in the West in many years but when I do visit there, it seems to me as though most people still wear shoes in their house. I do not do so even when visiting and sometimes people will say "it's ok, you can wear shoes in here" and my response is "Thanks, but I don't want to wear shoes."
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Unless you live in a bad neighborhood, this just makes sense to me
These days I have grand total of 3 pairs of shoes due to my minimalist lifestyle and 2/3 of them (which are athletic shoes) see far less action than my sole pair of flip-flops do. If it was up to me I would never wear "regular shoes" outside of exercise ever and this caused problems for me one time when I was visiting a friend in New York City and was actually denied entrance to a club because I was wearing sandals.
That only happened once though and since the person I was visiting actually was a VIP there, the tuxedo wearing beefcake at the door eventually let me in anyway. Whatever, dude was just doing his job.
So for me, I love the flip-flop life and if I ever have to return to a society where proper shoes are the norm, I will resist it with every fiber of my being. I HATE regular shoes now and really feel as though sandals are the way to go.
So what about you fellow South East Asian-ers? Do you feel the same way I do about footwear?
I love it when summer gets here because then I can wear flip flops in my office. I always hate it when fall rolls back around and I have to start wearing shoes all the time again. This past weekend we were camping with friends and my wife's best friend kept calling them thongs. I said please stop staying that because you are taking my mind to a totally different place :) It was funny. I have had pairs in the past where the piece between the toes rubs wrong, but if you find a good pair it is so worth it.
flip flops at the office? That's a pretty great work environment you have there. I recall once where I had just flown back from Asia on a trip and instead of driving home I just went to the office since my flight arrived at 3am and work starts at well, you know. They had showers in the building and I had 24 hour access with a security card so I just got a few hours sleep on the sofa in my office.
I had purchased custom made suits while visiting Thailand so I was dressed really nice the next day with one exception. I only had flip flops because the only shoes I brought with me on that trip fell apart while I was traveling. While I wasn't reprimanded for this it was frowned upon and I just think that is a shame.
The place I grew up in referred to them as "thongs" as well. I can't be certain because i was so young but I don't think that sort of underpants existed yet and why they decided to name either of the products that is a bit of a mystery as well.
I think they just called a g string back then! That is too bad they weren't a little more understanding.
Thanks @bozz for being engaged in the ASEAN Hive Community. !ENGAGE 50
ENGAGEtokens.This is one of the few things I refused to adapt to, even after 10 years. Around the house I'm a flip-flop man in Cambodia, but there are just so much foot dangers in that part of the world, riding a moto at 55 km/h being perhaps the number one most dangerous activity.
I saw so mangled toes and feet in Cambodia, that I chose to always wear closed-toe footwear to avoid any unneeded potential trips to a Khmer doctor. Even at home I had a special pair of closed-toe houseshoes that I wore with socks and long pants to fight off relentless mosquitoes.
That being said, having to constantly take my socks on and off and tie my shoes throughout the day was and still is a price/inconvenience I'm willing to pay. When I visit the USA, I notice it feels even more barbaric to wear outside shoes in the house, even though it's something I was never permitted to do as a child.
thought you might like to know that I was exiting my bathroom today and caught my "pinkie toe" on the door frame and now there is blood all over my living room and at my desk. I thought of you and your comment when this happened. I had just woken up too... what a way to start the day!
These are the moments in life that remind you that you are alive and this isn't the matrix. I remember an outdoor uncovered spiral staircase I had to use every day when I lived on a second floor apartment in Cambodia.
The whole thing was made of metal, and years of foot traffic had polished the steps to a mirror-like finish. Needless to say sometimes I'd unknowingly step on a bit of water before arriving at the stairs, and that was a very effective stair lubricant, because I slid all the way to the bottom multiple times, and even once almost got ejected before reaching the ground floor.
I am glad you thought of me in this moment, truly honored.🙏🙏
You are a rarity in the expat community my friend! I can't think of anyone else that is like this but being unique is a good thing, right?
I have to wear proper shoes to school but as soon as I can get those bastards off my feet I do so rapidly. I also never wear shoes in my house but always did before. However, I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that it is never cold here.
Thanks @jack.russelle for being engaged in the ASEAN Hive Community. !ENGAGE 25
ENGAGEtokens.You are like me. I dont like that kind of sandal on the first picture. I would feel my feet naked and defendless.
well i have gotten over it now. I had no choice :)
Thanks @videoaddiction for being engaged in the ASEAN Hive Community. !ENGAGE 10
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