Posted on 01/11/2005 5:07:24 AM PST by Rodney King
A Norwegian furniture maker has begun his 15th year of going barefoot, even when there's snow on the ground. A bet he placed with his brother in the summer of 1990 has simply turned into a way of life.
Terje Gordon Jensen, age 30, started going without shoes as a teenager, after making a wager with his brother. The bet was over who could (or would) go around barefoot the longest. His brother lost.
"Now I think it's terrible to wear shoes," Jensen told ration station P4. "I struggle just to try getting them on."
Jensen, who lives in the southern coastal town of Kristiansand, doesn't face many challenges in the summertime. But he keeps going barefoot even when the autumn and winter set in.
"When my feet get wet, it can get cold," Jensen allowed. "But if I'm just going to be outside for a short while, it doesn't matter how cold it is."
He also says he manages to tackle snow and ice in his bare feet, as long as he's not outside too long. He has put on shoes twice this winter, but only as a last resort.
Jensen said he's been stopped by police, who've questioned him over his bare feet, and he often attracts stares and comments from the general public. That hasn't made him change his habit. Wearing shoes, he claims, "is like trying to work with gloves on."
I guess idiots come from everywhere.......
There I go, being a grump. Oh well, it's snowing and crappy this morning, and this guy just sounds a little nuts.
Oh, I don't know. If I could, I'd go barefoot all the time. Of course, I wouldn't live through Norwegian winters while doing it.
Obviously he has better arches than I do.
You gotta be in -western- MD!....LOL!
[yup, I'm barefoot as we speak]....;))
When I lived in Hawaii, there wer some types who went barefoot practically everywhere-- even on the buses.
HOWEVER, this caveman thing is bull crap. They wore animal skins all over themselves in winter-- including muckluck type boots. This guy is a narcissistic spolied brat. He probably lives in a warm, pleasant house with carpeting.
Bugh!
I used to be able to run down my gravel lane barefoot.
[now I have to carefully walk down it]
Spent all my summers running the ridges barefoot and only put shoes back on when school started.
My dad even made a "no bare feet before May 1".
See how "stereotypes" always contain a grain of truth?....:)
Whoa.
Synchronicity.
TS
TS
I'm a SMIB!
Unfortunately, I'm not barefoot right now. Shoes (and clothes in general) are restrictive. If the world around me suddenly went nudist, I could probably adapt without too much trouble. Except for the whole "skirt" stigma, I'd wear a kilt. I always thought it was the perfect article of clothing. It lets the privates be private, but lets you swing freely.
A SMIB?!?
[I'm with ya on the kilts...why do you think I go to Highland games?]
I took one of my hounds with me once.
A Scots wannabe was doing his utmost to sweep me off my feet and Minnie, bless her snarky heart, didn't do a thing but take her nose and flip his kilt clear up to his chest.
Lucky for him he wasn't dressed 'regulation'.
Scots and Irishmen alike avoided the dog the rest of the day.
Even the singer on the stage shouted out "Aye! We've all heard about *that* lassie's dog!"
Bah.
They've moved the Frederick games to Urbana.
One of the reasons that shoes are worn is to keep parasites from crawling in through the skin. Hookworm comes to mind.
"I'd wear a kilt. I always thought it was the perfect article of clothing. It lets the privates be private, but lets you swing freely."
Here in the Texas Panhandle, where the wind blows all the time (we're actually considered windier than Chicago!), you might be "swinging freely" but that kilt would be flying high...and sharing the swinging with the rest of us. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I guess!
Whatever
They are actually made for craftsmen, it has pockets and loops for tools and so forth. It also has some sort of modesty device that is supposed to prevent the swinging part of the anatomy from being inadvertantly displayed to others.
Like I said, it's the whole "skirt" stigma that prevents me from buying one. Well, that and the fact that they cost a lot of money.
I have the same thing. When I was a kid I'd go barefoot everywhere. Now I can't even walk down the driveway to get the mail barefoot.
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