There are a number of folks in the barefooting community who use “Barefoot” in front of their names.
Do they really have to?
First, let me say right off the bat that I do it too. Sometimes.
Because of my barefooting, including the activism and the hiking, and even other interests, I’ve ended up meeting a fair number of important people. That includes university professors, the Curator of Archeology of the Ohio Historical Center, the Executive Director of the Columbus MetroParks, and the President of the Ohio Senate. (OK, that last one doesn’t think too highly of me . . .)
By “important”, I mean that the relationship is asymmetrical—because of how we met (on a hike, for instance, where there were also a lot of other people) and other interactions, I’m much more likely to remember their names than they are to remember mine.
But you know that they will remember the bare feet.
Thus, when I want to contact them, send them an email, I’ll use the sobriquet. It helps them know who they’re interacting with.
So why not?
I feel the same way with other barefooters who put the “Barefoot” in front of their names. Do they really have to? Well, no. But what’s that got to do with anything? If it works for them, in whatever way, why not?
I enjoy your blog, particularly this one. There was a federal prosecutor and ultimately federal judge in the Dallas area who was really named Barefoot Sanders. Despite a disreputable (racist) early political career, once our pastor got through to him, was a faithful defender of human rights. I never did find out how the name originated, he was a junior and his father went by Harold B. Sanders. He always claimed Barefoot came from his condition at birth, but that leaves out the old gag about being barefooted all over.
Paul, I knew about Barefoot Sanders. Whenever I tried to do a Lexis search for barefoot injury cases, his name always came up (but obviously for the wrong reason
). “Barefoot” is also a last name, so I’d also find cases in which the defendant had that as a last name.
I wonder if there was a “Barefoot” (last name) somewhere in the ancestry of Judge Sanders?
Ah, I just found this about Barefoot Sanders. His father was Harold Barefoot Sanders, whose mother was Dinnie Barefoot (as a last name). Barefoot Sanders was actually a junior: Harold Barefoot Sanders, Jr. Obviously, he went with his middle name for some reason (maybe to distinguish him from his father when he was young?).
I just want to say I love barefooting. I was told in my childhood that I should wear shoes—barefooting will make my arches fall. Well, my philosophy has now become, if we weren’t born with shoes, God must not think we need them. So I’ve tossed shoes to the wind and chalked them up as another of Western Civilization’s blights on the human race. Go FEET!!!
Oh, and for the record, I don’t go by “Barefoot” Joseph.