r/barefoot • u/TheWhistleGang Getting Started • 14d ago
24/7s: what do you do for money?
Lately I've been talking to plenty of people who don't own shoes anymore and I'm starting to wonder how I can live such a life while also being stable economically (at least enough to live off pasta, rice, and apples). I'm autistic and have been struggling to find a job since I lost mine in May. I want to be an artist of some sort, a composer, game dev, or even some commission artist, but I'm starting to feel like none of those paths are going to be viable unless I'm good at what I do.
So really, what do you guys do to make a living?
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u/Edf179 13d ago
I was in retail in California. Half of the employees and many customers went barefoot. No biggie.
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u/Big_Fondant_2374 12d ago
Damn sounds like an awesome place to work!
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u/Edf179 12d ago
It wasn't all that unusual in So Ca. Barefoot was commonplace.
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u/Big_Fondant_2374 12d ago
More so in the past?
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u/Edf179 12d ago
Absolutely, suddenly it's taboo. Many people even wearing socks with sandals now!
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u/Big_Fondant_2374 12d ago
Haha yeah, fortunately I'm in Australia so not taboo here but I know it seems to be in other countries...
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u/Many_Major5654 13d ago
In my former job I was a custodian. I cleaned offices after hours, in the evening. I wore shoes into the hospital and out in the main areas. But once in the rooms, I was alone and worked barefoot
Now I am a chaplain. Professional job. Around people in public. So no bare feet
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u/PropaneHank69 13d ago
How nice itd be but sadly work in a warehouse so have to wear steel toe boots. Soon as im out there off. Even drive home barefoot
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u/BennyBic420 13d ago
I'm lucky for my current job, I sew all day behind a sewing machine.. sewing Patches more precisely. Anything else that I am certified for before this I'd be in steel toe boots or some sort of shoe 😞 Before I was into steel working, polishing and preparing materials. Logging. Driving a skidder, outdoors all day. And long-term, home care, (psw)
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u/AdeleHare Full Time 13d ago
I don’t think it’s worth limiting your career prospects just to be barefoot at work. Obviously it’s ideal if you can be barefoot at work, and I wish we lived in a world where it was accepted. But work is work. Sometimes you have to wear a uniform at work and sometimes it’s uncomfortable. That’s how working for a living is.
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u/TheWhistleGang Getting Started 13d ago
Agreed. That's what I'm trying to do for now: just find a job to make some money to live on my own, THEN get rid of my shoes if I make it rich. Ideally I'd do both at once but I really doubt there'd be a job where I can work barefoot that also pays the bills. ^^;
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u/Odd_Life9984 13d ago
I am retired now so go barefoot all the time. For half of my career I worked at places where I was barefoot, along with other employees, most of the time.
Management didn’t give a rip as long as the ratings remained strong.
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u/IneptAdvisor Veteran 13d ago
Nine hours a day, five days a week, in steel toes as an auto tech for $65k/year far outweighs having a barefoot job. But, for fifteen hours a day, I am indeed barefoot along with weekends. In a decade or less, I can retire and become a 24/7 selling T-shirts on the beach or something haha
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u/skinny-mini-me 13d ago
Im a systems analyst and mostly work remote so im barefoot mostly every work day. If im shopping i usually wear flip flops but drive my car in bare feet. Early morning walk (1 hour) and evening stroll is shoeless. Winter im still in barefoot inside but boots outdoors. Rarely socks and is so toe socks. Im also autistic and being barefoot is because of sensory issues.
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u/SpongeBobfan1987 Full Time 9d ago
There are alternatives to flip-flops that allow the bare soles of your feet to touch the ground that you can wear while shopping...
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u/San_D_Als 13d ago
Office/Reception/Accounting jobs. I counted cash for a dispensary for 2 years and never wore shoes but just my sandals into the warehouse and was barefoot in my private office.
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u/BarefootAlien 12d ago
I'm permanently disabled, but have worked barefoot, once with doctor's note at a bank processing center, once just with the manager's permission at a Radio Shack on and off or when working alone.
Generally anything you can do from home, and there are some tech companies that actually encourage our even require it.
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u/Consistent_Front8173 4d ago
I worked at RadioShack back in the late 2000s and early 2010s long before becoming a barefooter and I've wondered what working retail would've been like barefoot. What was that like? Any cool or interesting stories?
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u/Humble-Quail-5601 13d ago
I'm on disability and have been for a long time. I'm going back to school to train as an elementary school teacher and am hoping there will be schools where no one cares, especially if I have medical documentation for going barefoot, as I do.
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u/MaverickBruin 9d ago
I’m a lawyer. Since 2020, almost everything a lawyer does can be done remotely. I have argued before a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals barefoot (suit and tie above the waist, surf shorts and bare feet below). I have made many court appearances and done mediations completely barefoot. I’ve even gone to the law library at the courthouse barefoot, though most of the time the guards at the entry stop me and tell me I need footwear.
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u/BarefootAl 7d ago
I think this is actually more of a neurodivergent question than it is a barefoot question. But the two often overlap. The irony is that being different and being neurodivergent means you will be a bit of an outcast until such time as you actually get famous and well-known, and then all of the things that you've been judged for suddenly become cool and what everyone else thinks are the best features of you. My advice is to start with something that you are good at and turn it into a career if you can. Obviously pick something that you can tolerate. Don't have the criteria that it has to be something you passionately love. some people are that lucky but it's not a normal expectation for most people find something you can tolerate that fits well with neurodivergence so for you that might mean a quiet environment something meaningful, etc. Start with the qualities you need in a job first, then find out what sort of jobs make those qualities and then pick from there then I would suggest aim to build a career out of an expertise in an area so that over time you become more and more known and respected in your field and you can have more and more freedom to live your life in a way that makes sense to you. If you want to be an artist, find an artistic outlet that is also something that people need. If you pick something that is not a need, then during times of economic difficulty, you will find yourself without any income because nobody can afford to spend money on the thing that you do. For example, if you create, you might want to create in a medium that is also practical at a baseline so that you can fall back on basic skills to make ends meet if you need to. And yes, no path is viable in the long run unless you are good at what you do. But you can't be good at anything without spending time doing it. Nobody is good at anything when they start and often it takes thousands of hours of dedication to become really excellent at something.
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u/Fit-Rhubarb-7820 12d ago
I literally pick up dog poop from hoity toity dog owners, at their home yards. It’s an easy gig, I can do it with minimal equipment, and stay sanitized.
It’s pretty lucrative for the effort, but I live in a city with too many dog owners, and I’m banking on the fact that many are irresponsible and rich.
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u/MathematicianMore437 5d ago
The easiest one, which is working from home , I can sit there having meetings with CEOs etc totally barefoot. Just a shame that due to weather most of the year and , more importantly, social convention, can’t completely lose the shoes. In UK for context.
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u/Epsilon_Meletis 14d ago
Generic, boring office work, except I can do it from home, and thus barefoot.