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Old May 13, 2005, 8:14 am
  #46  
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I certainly hope to meet you onboard... Great stuff, this!

I've shed my shoes after we're at signifiicant altitude, and replace them prior to the cabin being prepared for landing - anyone who has seen sites or photos of survivable accidents should pay attention to the copious and often sharp debris, not to mention those flames can make walking surfaces pretty hot.

Only thing I'd take minor umbrage at is your calling the barefoot woman a "lady."

Originally Posted by PUCCI GALORE
I'm really surprised. I think there is a most definite safety issue for parts of the flight. If there is an emergency and people are scrambling towards exits I would want some form of protection on my fees. If you had to evacuate an aircraft in an emergency you could get a blister from the slide or step in glass or anything else just at the moment that you should be running from the aircraft. As for these socks - well they are supposed to keep your feet warm 0 and that is another reason why I always wear shoes when I am a passenger. Aircraft are frequently cold and I hate draughts around my feet.

... If this was the BA Forum I would be happy to tell you a story about a lady who wore no shoes - but this is the AA Forum and it would not be appropriate.

Yes, been there and seen it all. They are tasteless but not a health issue to others unfortunately. Yes, people patter off to the bathroom with nothing on their feet, and then when they hurt themselves - or cut themselves guess which cabin crew member is a Nurse.

If they are adults and should know better, I have no compuction in using lots of very strong disinfectant and if it hurts - well they'll live. I give them a pillow to muffle their shrieks as in my space no one should hear you scream.
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Old May 13, 2005, 8:19 am
  #47  
 
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Originally Posted by scottykempf
On a recent return trip from Hawaii, a girl in the seat behind me put her bare feet on the back of my armrest. Now, she was cute, but I considered it fairly rude on her part. My seat, my armrest, thank you very much.
"That is so rude! Please move your bare feet from my armrest!" Scottykempf turns to look at the culprit. "Oh, I wasn't talking to you, may I rub your feet."
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Old May 13, 2005, 8:26 am
  #48  
 
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Originally Posted by MACH81
what if he/she is travelling biz or first and puts his/her dirty feet on the flat bed somebody else is gonna use on the following fllight?it's all about good manners
But since your mouth has the most germs, the people drooling on the seat in their sleep are even filthier than the people with the bare feet.
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Old May 13, 2005, 8:53 am
  #49  
 
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Barebottom

I can't find the thread, but I believe I have already recounted a few years ago on either a LHR JFK or CDG JFK flight, my barely legal drinking age seatmate (the FAs asked her a second time for ID after her fourth drink within 1 hour after takeoff!) who had forgotten her underwear and was making everyone painfully aware of her barebottom situation by hiking her dress up to her waist when seated with her seatbelt fasten or when retriving things repeatedly from the overhead bin. After I mentioned it to the FAs, they said that they hand never seen anything like it and didn't know what to do. I asked to be moved, but there were no empty seats. One PAX joked, I guess you will just have to grin and bear it! I responded, I hope you don't mean like her!
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Old May 13, 2005, 8:59 am
  #50  
 
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I was going to comment on the toenail clippers (post #39), but after the previous post, I know where this thread is going...
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Old May 13, 2005, 9:04 am
  #51  
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Originally Posted by CO FF
I was going to comment on the toenail clippers (post #39), but after the previous post, I know where this thread is going...
Where's that, pray tell?
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Old May 13, 2005, 11:19 am
  #52  
 
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Originally Posted by yellow77
Not trying to troll - but it escapes me what the obvious health issue is here. ...So rather than take up the thread with a discussion of this since you all seem pretty much to agree, can someone point me to a scientific article discussing the health risks of not wearing shoes, since I just can't see what they are? Thanks.
Let's see...FA or pax drops glass (happens all the time), glass breaks into hundreds of pieces on floor (not all of which can be located/picked up), idiot in bare feet walks down glass and cuts feet. Sounds pretty clear to me. At least a double layer of socks would minimize the damage from small shards of glass. Not a scientific article, but just plain common sense.

I agree that the main issue of bare feet on an airplane is the gross-out factor. Most people (foot fetishes excepted - not that there's anything wrong with that!), don't find the feet the most attractive part of the human anatomy. I certainly don't want someone's bare feet (even a supermodel's) propped up on a bulkead three feet in front of me at eye/nose level. It just grosses me out...and is usually resolved with a polite request to the offender. I am glad to discover from this thread that there are terms in the CoC to back me up on this.
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Old May 13, 2005, 11:42 am
  #53  
 
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Re: a bare bottom

Originally Posted by howellajohnson
After I mentioned it to the FAs, they said that they hand never seen anything like it...
Those FAs should get out more often!
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Old May 13, 2005, 1:46 pm
  #54  
 
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Originally Posted by DFW DL
Let's see...FA or pax drops glass (happens all the time), glass breaks into hundreds of pieces on floor (not all of which can be located/picked up), idiot in bare feet walks down glass and cuts feet. Sounds pretty clear to me. At least a double layer of socks would minimize the damage from small shards of glass. Not a scientific article, but just plain common sense.

I agree that the main issue of bare feet on an airplane is the gross-out factor. Most people (foot fetishes excepted - not that there's anything wrong with that!), don't find the feet the most attractive part of the human anatomy. I certainly don't want someone's bare feet (even a supermodel's) propped up on a bulkead three feet in front of me at eye/nose level. It just grosses me out...and is usually resolved with a polite request to the offender. I am glad to discover from this thread that there are terms in the CoC to back me up on this.
I used to fly 767 flights all the time. Quite a few times I sat at the jumpseat adjacent to the bulkhead wall in the front of coach facing the back of the plane.

I actually had people, more often than I could believe, who would put their bare feet up on the wall only about an inch or two away from my face and not remove them when I sat down for takeoff. When I told them they needed to put their feet down they actually demanded to know why. I suppose the fact that it was really disgustingly rude to have your feet in my face wasn't obvious and the fact that if the plane stopped short they would most likely kick me in the face wasn't a factor either. It is amazing how uncouth some Americans are. I NEVER had someone on who was barefoot who wasn't an American. We have some of the nicest people in the world in the U.S. and some of the biggest barbarians as well. Unbelievable.

The foot safety factor comes into play all the time when glass breaks in the forward cabins. Glass breaks on almost every flight.a flight. We don't have a dustbuster or shark so the glass is only picked up by hand on the flight. From your experiences at home you all should know that glass breakage is never localized. Somehow the glass you break in one room winds up in another part of the room or in another room entirely. The same thing happens on the plane.
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Old May 13, 2005, 1:49 pm
  #55  
 
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Originally Posted by howellajohnson
I would have agreed with your logic, but I was in a crash landing once where the landing gear was stuck in the up position and before impact the FAs instructed the PAXs to move to the front and back of the cabin and to remove all shoes.

I later learned that the apparent reasoning behind the removal of the shoes was that the impact of the landing could easily force the heel of the shoe through your foot and that there was also a real risk that shoes would rip the evacuation slides unlike barefeet or socks.

Shoeless, everyone survived and no slides were ripped.

Moving the passengers was most probably to get everyone close to door exits instead of window for easier evacuations. The breakage part could have been a factor, I suppose, but I would bet more on the door exit theory.

The old procedures used to call for shoe removal so the slides wouldn't puncture. They have since decided that if you are evacuating a plane you would be safer in shoes to step through and away from debris.
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Old May 13, 2005, 3:35 pm
  #56  
 
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I actually had people, more often than I could believe, who would put their bare feet up on the wall only about an inch or two away from my face and not remove them when I sat down for takeoff. When I told them they needed to put their feet down they actually demanded to know why. I suppose the fact that it was really disgustingly rude to have your feet in my face wasn't obvious and the fact that if the plane stopped short they would most likely kick me in the face wasn't a factor either. It is amazing how uncouth some Americans are. I NEVER had someone on who was barefoot who wasn't an American. We have some of the nicest people in the world in the U.S. and some of the biggest barbarians as well. Unbelievable.
Kinda funny, my aunt who used to be an AA F/A complained about the exact same thing. You'd think people would have a little bit of class, wouldn't you? An airplane is a public place, not your home. You wouldn't put your feet on your walls at home so why do it in an airplane?
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Old May 13, 2005, 3:39 pm
  #57  
 
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See, if you are talking about manners and avoiding inpeeding on someones personal space, THAT I can agree with...but it would hold the same for a barefoot as much as one with a shoe on...
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Old May 13, 2005, 3:52 pm
  #58  
 
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A certain "domestic diva" was spotted going into the lav and walking all over the plane barefoot - she can't travel more that 100 yards from her home now, though. This was several years ago, before she became superfamous, but she already had the TV show. Bet you'll never guess who?
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Old May 13, 2005, 4:03 pm
  #59  
 
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Originally Posted by Plato90s
Notice the number of people walking around American cities wearing flip-flops?

Those are the same people walking around barefoot on airplanes.
What is that supposed to mean?

As a former resident of Costa Rica and current resident of Miami Beach, I rarely wear anything more than sandals. Flip-flops with shorts or jeans, sandals with jeans or pants. If I have a meeting, I will wear dress shoes and slacks or dress shoes and a suit.

Once on the plane, I usually take my feet out of the flip-flops/sandals and place them on top of the removed footwear. Yes, urine gets tracked on the carpet, so I have no interest in getting it on my feet.

I do not consider flying a special event that warrants special attire. AA has made numerous downgrades to their product, and the necessity for playing dress up has long passed. There was a time when people wore suits and hats to baseball games, but times change.

WTMD? I don't remove sandals/flip-flops. When I have tried this with shoes in the past, I was reprimanded by the TSA and forced to undergo further screening. I think sandals/flip-flops are a decent compromise for me.

FWIW - I have a MUCH greater problem w/ alcohol use/abuse on the airplanes.

Thread hijacking in progress...
I am definitely in the minority here, but I would support banning alcohol on flights. Yes, I understand that this "punishes" people that drink in moderation; however I don't really think this is punishment. I would rather sit next to an upset sober person than an all-too-happy drunk.

Sam
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Old May 13, 2005, 9:14 pm
  #60  
 
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Originally Posted by PUCCI GALORE
....I have no compuction in using lots of very strong disinfectant and if it hurts - well they'll live. I give them a pillow to muffle their shrieks ....
.

But on AA, Pucci, that is no longer possible since pillows have been removed
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