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Opinion: Worst foot forward

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Will health concerns succeed where appeals to decorum failed in persuading Americans to cover their feet?

Like my father, who thought bare or even semi-bare feet should be confined to the beach and the bedroom, I never have worn sandals. I confess to a sort of reverse foot fetish where other people’s dogs are concerned.

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Maybe it’s the fact that bare feet are a reminder that our hands used to be feet, too. Or maybe it’s that disfigured toes seem to be more common than mutated fingers. Or perhaps I’m influenced by repressed memories of traumatic childhood trips to the shoe store, in the days when creepy salesmen X-rayed kids’ feet.

I was shocked and appalled (as readers who complain about editorials like to say) when some members of the Northwestern University women’s lacrosse team showed up at the White House wearing flip-flops. One upside of the return of the Latin Mass may be that men and women alike will resist the temptation to flip-flop their way to the Communion rail.

Unfortunately, my aversion to exposed feet isn’t universally shared, and the shaming of the Northwestern lacrosse players hasn’t discouraged flip-flopping in other public places. But now USA Today is reporting that flip-flops aren’t just tacky; they may be a health menace. Among the ills linked to flip-flops are sore arches and heels; calluses; hammer toes; and irritation between the toes.

Poetic justice, I say.

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