Airline Refuses Flight to Shoeless Toddler, Family

source: news.com.au

An woman and her two young sons recently were kept off a Virgin Australia flight after the younger child had lost his shoes and was going to board in stockinged feet, according to an article by the Website Terminal U. After the carrier apparently cited a non-existent policy of Australia's safety regulator, Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), Karen Darley and her four-year and two-year old children were refused boarding on the flight and finally took another one when replacement shoes for the toddler were found.

Further complicating the matter is the fact that the family missed an alternate flight (for which she was not billed additionally by Virgin Australia), and therefore had to pay more than $800 for new tickets. Darley is seeking compensation for the second flight and a portion of the cost of the first flight.

Terminal U shared a quote from a CASA spokesperson: "CASA recommends that all passengers wear shoes on board. There is no regulation for wearing shoes, but airlines can set their own policies." Our emphasis was added. According to a news.com.au article, which Terminal U sourced, the airline does have a policy requiring shoes of "anyone who can walk."

As is often the case with discrimination against primalfoot people, there seems to be confusion as to why Virgin Australia actually kicked Darley and her sons off the plane. Both articles linked above claim that a safety regulation was wrongly cited. The airline does have a policy addressing this issue, but it's not clear if that was brought up by the airline only after the fact.

UPDATE, Nov. 2, 2011: Barefooter Bob Neinast informed us that Virgin Australia's posted Conditions of Carriage actually do not have a requirement that passengers use footwear. That said, the document does state that the airline "may take all steps it believes necessary to ensure the safety and security of its Guests," an excuse often used against barefooters when no specific policy exists.

Whatever the case, there is no regulation requiring that any Australian airline require shoes of their passengers. Furthermore, we believe that it's unnecessary for any airline to prohibit primalfoot passengers for reasons of safety. Under all normal circumstances, commercial airplane cabins are free of anything that can harm the feet. If emergency situations are a concern, hard hats and protective gloves are not required of or issued to passengers.

We hope that as the numerous benefits of primalfoot living come more into the public view, airlines and regulators will eliminate any policies requiring shoes of passengers.

Thanks to our advisory board member Moe Morales for passing this along!

Vermont Student Fights for Barefoot Rights

Photo: LogoProducts4Less.comThe Primalfoot Alliance leadership has reached out to a University of Vermont sophomore who is staunchly defending his barefoot lifestyle against discrimination.

David Wisotsky has seen discrimination from the campus cafeteria, library and police. His story was shared recently in an article of The Vermont Cynic. Though we could find no specific policies that addresses the issue of footwear in the university's Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities (PDF), the article claims David was cited by police for violating "other policies." He will soon defend himself at a "student conduct hearing" and is now working with the Student Government Association's diversity committee to draft legislation allowing students to live barefoot without fear of discrimination. David does acknowledge, however, that there isn't an organized group of barefooters...yet.

"Although we aren't a group right now, I know of a lot of barefoot students on campus," he is quoted in the article as saying.

We wholeheartedly stand behind David's efforts and have reached out to him via email offering any support we can give. There is an ever-growing community of advocates behind him.

It's important for the University of Vermont and all other institutions like it to understand that, although barefooters may not be organized or large in number, it's appropriate to allow for people to live shoeless if they so choose. It is a matter of personal choice and biomechanical health and does not harm anyone else. Though it is not a mainstream or widely-accepted lifestyle, that does not make it invalid or not worth protecting.

We will keep you updated on this story as plausible.

Reflections on Steve Jobs' Influence, Going Barefoot and Staying Foolish

Friends,

Steve Jobs, Credit: Apple, Inc.After reflecting on the recent passing of Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder and former CEO of Pixar, I thought it might be appropriate to share a few words on how Steve's influence has shaped my personal journey to founding and leading The Primalfoot Alliance. I write this not to compare myself to Steve Jobs - far from it - but instead to share how I try to use his example as a foundation for this organization's mission to advocate for people who go barefoot.

I have long been fascinated by Steve's leadership of Apple and Pixar. I've admired his dedication to excellence and his very open desire to "change the world" through his actions. Indeed, it's hard to use any device with a microchip inside and a color screen that has not been influenced in some way by Steve Jobs. I can't help but find it ironic that Apple's former "Think Different" campaign encapsulated Steve himself in its words about other visionaries:

"Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

As you know, we who choose to live barefoot outside of our home, the swimming pool or the green grass at the local park are often considered "crazy" by our shoe-centric society. We are misfits. We are certainly rebels. To many, we are considered troublemakers, though we have no intent of being such. We see things differently because we know that the status quo of wearing shoes all the time and the rules demanding we must do so are what's actually "crazy" - not us.

Sometimes, however, it feels like the barefoot lifestyle is a pretty crazy thing for which to advocate. On a phone call a while back, this organization's vice president Daniel Howell, PhD, and I shared with each other about how we never expected to be in this position. He never expected to write and publish The Barefoot Book. If you had told me just a few years ago that I'd go barefoot all the time AND start an organization to advocate for those who want to live barefoot without hassle, I'd have though you were - well, you know. Label it however you wish, but I love to go barefoot and I love to advocate for the feet of anyone who cares to go without shoes.

Ever since the beginning of this organization, it has been important to me that The Primalfoot Alliance "think different" about how we advocate for bare feet (In many ways, I don't have respect for the status quo). I wanted to have a smart, dedicated group of advisors to help along the way. Over the past 18 months Daniel, the advisory board and I have been working to slowly build interest and support through social media. We've posted information on our modern Website to educate the public about living barefoot, created effective resources that barefooters can use to advocate for themselves "on the go," and successfully held "Your Day Without Shoes" in June for the first time to encourage people to go barefoot because they want to - not because a shoe company wants to sell more product.

We want to be an organization that can't be ignored because we're changing things for bare feet for the better. The advisory board and I have had many discussions about ways for this alliance to raise funding to enable all the programs we've talked about. I would like to see a drastic expansion of "Your Day Without Shoes" next year. Daniel and I have spoken more privately about an all-new primary message for The Primalfoot Alliance in 2012 and new ways of approaching the dreaded confrontation about your bare feet in the local store. There have even been discussions about taking a clear, well-developed case to government boards, councils and legislative bodies throughout the U.S. in order to receive their official support. More information about our initiatives will be released in the future, but let me say that they're REALLY exciting!

Crazy? Maybe so. Genius? We hope so. Challenging the status quo? You bet.

Some veteran barefooters who are reading this might think these things can't be done and that such change is impossible, but I refuse to try old ways of advocating that have failed and I refuse to quit trying new ways. If one technique doesn't work, we'll think different and try another. We'll keep banging the drum of bare feet until we are heard and society wakes up to the cold, hard fact that it's wrong to discriminate against people who simply don't want to put on shoes to go shopping, eat out, visit the library or even work - who just want to let their feet be feet first. We shouldn't have to wear shoes because someone else tells us to.

Mr. Jobs, in his 2005 commencement address to Stanford University graduates said something that, I think, applies perfectly to barefooters and The Primalfoot Alliance's mission:

"Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

Finally, he wrapped up his speech with a quote from the back of the final issue of The Whole Earth Catalog:

"Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."

We will, Steve. Thank you.

Smiles,

Michael Buttgen
Founder and Chief Primalfoot Officer
The Primalfoot Alliance

p.s. Did you know that Steve Jobs enjoyed going barefoot?