Joseph DeRuvo Jr., from Norwalk, Conn., gave up on footwear over two decades ago, after getting painful bunions on his feet, and he has been walking around barefoot ever since. The 59-year-old considered surgery for his bunions, but when he learned that the screws that were to be inserted inserted into his feet contained a metal he was allergic to, he passed on the surgery and decided to adopt a barefoot lifestyle. However, shunning footwear for good isn’t as simple as it sounds. We may be born barefoot, but as respectable adults living in the U.S., we’re pretty much expected to wear shoes when going out. As you might imagine, failure to wear shoes can get you thrown out of a variety of places. That’s why DeRuvo has a pair of loose sandals in his car, but he only puts them on when he absolutely has to. Otherwise, he prefers to go barefoot — in the heat of summer and on freezing winter days. DeRuvo often gets asked about the danger of getting sharp objects stuck in his callused soles, but he says that the benefits far outweigh the risks, and that walking barefoot simply means that he has to be more careful when he’s out and about.
