Melomaniacal
Smash Champion
Link to original post: [drupal=3267]April 8th - One Day Without Shoes[/drupal]
"One Day Without Shoes is the day we spread awareness about the impact a simple pair of shoes can have on a child’s life. On April 8th, we ask people to go the day, part of the day or even just a few minutes, barefoot, to experience a life without shoes first-hand, and inspire others at the same time."
So, today was the national (and relatively unknown) event started by TOMS shoes to go one day without shoes. It's for a good cause, and I decided to participate this year.
Basically, what TOMS is, is a group that sells shoes, and for ever pair of shoes bought, they donate a pair to someone in need. The idea is that some 40% of the world population doesn't have a pair of shoes, and this is actually much worse than it sounds. As you can probably imagine, living without shoes can and will lead to many health issues - some being minor cuts and bruises, some being serious diseases. So, TOMS organized a yearly event where participants go a whole day without shoes (or socks, in my case) to raise awareness and share the experience.
Now, I chose to participate for the obvious reasons - I think it's a good cause - but also I am attracted by sharing the experience. I often feel too... secure and safe in my middle-class, comfortable life. I often wish that I could share and understand the experience of those in worse situations than my own. I have those generic teenage "Into the Wild" dreams of one day leaving everything behind and living by my own hand, but I guess that's another story. Basically, I think it's a good thing to experience these kinds of things.
I can tell you right off the bat that going a full day without shoes isn't easy. Aside from the schools policy regarding it - which I will get into in a minute - it's physically difficult and tiring to walk on hot gravel and cold hard floors all day with no shoes. In only one day I'm getting pains and cuts. Now I try to imagine the 40% of the world that has to go through this every day, in various conditions, and it's amazing to me.
So in my adventure of going through one day of high school with no shoes, I encountered many problems. First was students. I'd say about 75% would point and say "what the **** is that moron doing wearing no shoes?" The other 25% either thought it was funny in a good way, or were inspired and actually joined in. I definitely wasn't the only one participating, I came across a lot of others in the hallways going barefoot. At one point a hall aid stopped a group of us and threatened us with detentions if we didn't put on proper footwear. We tried explaining the situation, to which she only replied with how "disgusting the floors are." We tried to explain that... well, that's the point. There are people who have to do this every day, and I'm totally willing to take the (minimal) risks of doing it once. But she wasn't having it, haha. We ended up putting sandals on for a minute, turning a corner and taking them off. I understand that there's certain safety hazards that the school doesn't want to be responsible for, but I think they should respect this kind of thing for what it's trying to do. Some teachers understood and let us continue, but there's always that one power-hungry hall aid. Whatever.
Regardless of the students, the administration, and the foot pains, I think it was a good experience for what it's taught me. As a middle-class American, there's a lot I take for granted. We all do it, and I think we should all step back sometimes and realize how lucky we are. Even something as simple as shoes can have an astounding affect on a person's life.
I hope this doesn't count as advertisement, and thus against smashboards rules, but if you're interested or want to learn more about the organization or the event, you can check out http://www.onedaywithoutshoes.com/, or http://www.toms.com/.
And that's all I have to say about that.
"One Day Without Shoes is the day we spread awareness about the impact a simple pair of shoes can have on a child’s life. On April 8th, we ask people to go the day, part of the day or even just a few minutes, barefoot, to experience a life without shoes first-hand, and inspire others at the same time."
So, today was the national (and relatively unknown) event started by TOMS shoes to go one day without shoes. It's for a good cause, and I decided to participate this year.
Basically, what TOMS is, is a group that sells shoes, and for ever pair of shoes bought, they donate a pair to someone in need. The idea is that some 40% of the world population doesn't have a pair of shoes, and this is actually much worse than it sounds. As you can probably imagine, living without shoes can and will lead to many health issues - some being minor cuts and bruises, some being serious diseases. So, TOMS organized a yearly event where participants go a whole day without shoes (or socks, in my case) to raise awareness and share the experience.
Now, I chose to participate for the obvious reasons - I think it's a good cause - but also I am attracted by sharing the experience. I often feel too... secure and safe in my middle-class, comfortable life. I often wish that I could share and understand the experience of those in worse situations than my own. I have those generic teenage "Into the Wild" dreams of one day leaving everything behind and living by my own hand, but I guess that's another story. Basically, I think it's a good thing to experience these kinds of things.
I can tell you right off the bat that going a full day without shoes isn't easy. Aside from the schools policy regarding it - which I will get into in a minute - it's physically difficult and tiring to walk on hot gravel and cold hard floors all day with no shoes. In only one day I'm getting pains and cuts. Now I try to imagine the 40% of the world that has to go through this every day, in various conditions, and it's amazing to me.
So in my adventure of going through one day of high school with no shoes, I encountered many problems. First was students. I'd say about 75% would point and say "what the **** is that moron doing wearing no shoes?" The other 25% either thought it was funny in a good way, or were inspired and actually joined in. I definitely wasn't the only one participating, I came across a lot of others in the hallways going barefoot. At one point a hall aid stopped a group of us and threatened us with detentions if we didn't put on proper footwear. We tried explaining the situation, to which she only replied with how "disgusting the floors are." We tried to explain that... well, that's the point. There are people who have to do this every day, and I'm totally willing to take the (minimal) risks of doing it once. But she wasn't having it, haha. We ended up putting sandals on for a minute, turning a corner and taking them off. I understand that there's certain safety hazards that the school doesn't want to be responsible for, but I think they should respect this kind of thing for what it's trying to do. Some teachers understood and let us continue, but there's always that one power-hungry hall aid. Whatever.
Regardless of the students, the administration, and the foot pains, I think it was a good experience for what it's taught me. As a middle-class American, there's a lot I take for granted. We all do it, and I think we should all step back sometimes and realize how lucky we are. Even something as simple as shoes can have an astounding affect on a person's life.
I hope this doesn't count as advertisement, and thus against smashboards rules, but if you're interested or want to learn more about the organization or the event, you can check out http://www.onedaywithoutshoes.com/, or http://www.toms.com/.
And that's all I have to say about that.
