Barefoot in Oz

I love shoes, a passion I share with a countless number of women all over the world. Although my desire to roam around the shopping malls have been reduced to a minimum since we moved to Australia, my love for shoes is eternal. I only brought 11 pairs with me in my suitcase and I am eagerly waiting for our shipment to arrive in 3 weeks time or so. In meantime, I take pleasure in looking at the footwear of the sheilas in Melbourne. So far, it seems as the ladies either do not share my interest for footwear or they simply have a different taste in shoes. Flip-flops or those textile shoes, Ked’s look-alikes, are by far the most popular. Among the working women, practical, black heels – think governess or Salvation Army personnel - seem to be favored. Men prefer flip-flops on their days off or trainers if it is a really cold day. However, the big decision that Aussie men and women make is not which pair of shoes they are putting on when they are leaving the house, the decision is about whether putting on shoes or not. Every time I’ve been in a mall, supermarket, out on the street and even at pick-up time in school, I see grown up people walking around barefoot. They are not coming directly from the beach as ladies are neatly dressed in a summery dress with a handbag but shoeless and the men have shorts and a t-shirt but shoeless. Perhaps I should find it refreshing after years in countries where men and women dress up to go to the mall but I don’t. Apart from looking sloppy, it looks cold, dirty and also somewhat dangerous. Trolleys, high heels, broken glass; there are a number of potentially harmful situations for bare feet. Put on shoes, I say! I will never walk barefoot anywhere except around my house or at the beach and nor will anyone in my family. I might have to rephrase what I just claimed. Yesterday a man greeted me with a ”G’ day” and I automatically replied ”G’day”. I recently swore that I would never say "G’day" as it sounds pathetic when I use Aussie words. But still, I said ”G’day”. So perhaps one of these days I’ll be strolling around the mall barefoot. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see....