How Safe Is It To Walk Barefoot In Cities?

July 14th, 2011
barefoot
When I first started walking barefoot to work, back at the end of april, I was worried about hurting my feet by stepping on glass. Several people warned me about it, but I couldn't find any good data on how likely it was. I've now been commuting barefoot most days since then, and I found a glass splinter in my foot for the first time today. (It wasn't so bad; it hurt some, I pulled it out with tweezers.) I count about forty hours of walking barefoot commuting to work daily over a little more than two months, including that I wasn't walking the whole way barefoot at first and some days I took the bus. Adding in other times I've been barefoot, on the weekends, etc, and I think it comes to about fifty hours of walking around somerville and cambridge. So: 2% chance of glass per hour walked (but wide error bars).

Note: I watch the ground pretty carefully when I walk, avoiding glass etc. If you are less careful, you'll probably step on more bad things.

Referenced in:

Comment via: facebook, substack

Recent posts on blogs I like:

Three cheers for the tomboy chaser

Three cheers for the tomboy chaser!

via Thing of Things January 30, 2026

2025-26 New Year review

This is an annual post reviewing the last year and setting intentions for next year. I look over different life areas (work, health, parenting, effectiveness, etc) and analyze my life tracking data. Highlights include a minimal group house, the usefulness…

via Victoria Krakovna January 19, 2026

Why I Don't Think My Braces Were Worth It

A couple weeks ago, I got my braces off. I kind of wish I had never had them, though. When I was younger, two of my teeth were sticking out, and they looked kind of funny. I thought that my teeth were just fine, and I didn't want to get braces. But s…

via Anna Wise's Blog Posts January 3, 2026

more     (via openring)