Why Buy Socks, Bedsocks and Slippers? Post 749 by Angela Lansbury.


Socks prevent shoes, sandals and boots from rubbing your feet. When you develop blisters on holiday, it's not just the extra walking. It's also going without protective socks because you are in hot weather. 

Socks are also required by some restaurants and clubs in hot countries. So others don't get bothered by smelly feet. Because it looks neater. You can sometimes wear shorts, go topless, or wear a swimsuit, in a poolside bar. But covering up is the rule in the smarter restaurants. It looks neater. More formal. So that is the reason for wearing socks in the day time. 

But why wear socks at night? Surely in the dark, with your feet under a dining table, nobody would notice?

Why Wear Bedsocks?

You wear bed socks for warmth at night. Especially nowadays, when we have duvets instead of blankets. They keep you warm if you turn over and stick your foot out. Or your sleeping partner rolls over, removing the duvet from your side of the bed.

Bed socks also keep you feet warm if you pad out to the bathroom, or the kitchen. for a glass of water, or to have breakfast before dressing. If you have a cold tiled floor, in cold winter, or hot summer with air conditioning, your feet stay warm.

Going Barefoot - Advantages and Disadvantages

A friend told me that she decided to walk around on the patio and grass outside her ground floor flat, (Instead of flat, Americans and Singaporeans would say condo, which in the UK applies only to complexes with shared amenities such as gyms and swimming pools, rare in cities as we do not have long warm summers.) She had read that it makes you feel good, sensually satisfied. At one with nature.

I am very wary about walking around barefoot, even partially protected by slippers. I had an accident. They say, once bitten twice shy. 

I Trod On A Nail

In 1976 I was returning home from hospital by car to our block of flats. Only a few feet from the car door to the front door of the block. I was wearing backless platform slippers, the heel raised. 

The people below had had a change of flooring. The fitters had left tacks everywhere. 

I trod on a tack which went into the sole of my foot. I bled and was in pain. With my baby in my arms, I had to go straight to hospital. 

Tetanus vaccination? Breastfeeding? 

I could not walk.  We had to hire a nanny for a fortnight. So, I am in favour of as much foot protection as I can get, outdoors and indoors.

'Slippers' For Convenience And Quick On And Off

Slippers in the UK are shoes with thin soles. These slippers are backless in summer. 

In winter, UK slippers offer protection from the cold. Winter slippers are fur lined, nowadays with fake fur, or sheepskin-lined. Not weatherproof, and not suitable for outdoor wear. 

Indians, in India and the UK, use the term slippers to describe what the British call flip flops. 

I've also seen them on the web called sliders, when you can slide your feet into them because they are backless. 

Outdoor Shoes & Boots - Protective qualities

Outdoor shoes have thicker soles to survive the wear of hard roads and pavements. Outdoor shoes protect feet from rain and snow. Also damage from sharp objects, broken glass, twigs. Plus insects, worms, bacteria, leeches, ticks, poison ivy, nettles.

But they are heavy to wear indoors. Wet and dirty. So you take them off. Your carpet is clean.

Until a worker arrives to fix your plumbing, or to deliver or fix something. Some of them are used to removing their shoes indoors. Others object, 'I'm not allowed to take my shoes off!'

Protecting The Feet Of Workers

Work boots may have protective toe caps. Workers may be required to wear them indoors. (To protect themselves and their assistants, against items dropped or trodden on, from dirt and water. This may be to protect the employer or worker from prosecution, and to comply with the requirements of insurance.) 

So the workers can be asked to cover their shoes with disposable covers, often made in blue. 

Disposable Shoe Covers In Hotels, Pools, Gyms

You might be given blue disposable foot coverings in swimming pools or gyms, even when visiting to view them as a prospective member, or to be shown the area in a hotel.

Useful Websites

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=blue+disposable+shoe+covers

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Books by Angela Lansbury, author and poet, on quotations, weddings, etiquette, poetry, are on Amazon.com and Lulu.com

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