When last we left our intrepid hero, the Statehouse had responded to his request for a perpetual waiver from their rule by sending him a 3-page application.
OK. So, why not fill it out?
First, a reminder of the application. Here’s a PDF version:
Let’s see, how should it be filled out? It says I need a “good cause” for a waiver.
Well, I’ve been testifying before the JCARR committee about this. Let me write it up again. Here is what I wrote for my “good cause”:
Going barefoot alleviates my foot, knee, and hip pains. Shoes make my body hurt. I also require the increased proprioception that going barefoot allows, and direct contact with the surface I am walking on helps me keep my balance.
Now that I read that, I see it could be an advertisement for anybody going barefoot.
Hmmm. And what date should I choose? When would I want to visit?
I know: April 19 is the anniversary of the battle of Lexington and Concord, when we first stood up to fight for our freedoms against the power of overreaching and petty government.
Interestingly, one thing I noticed is that the form asks for the “date for which waiver is requested”, but on the last page, the granted/denied page, there is a line that says “this waiver is effective for the following date(s)”. See the possible plural there?
I sent it in on Monday, April 9, not knowing how long it would take them to respond. I got my response that Friday. Not bad for a turnaround time.
So, what do you think? Did I get my waiver?
Bing, bing, bing, bing, bing.
We have a winner. Yes, I got my waiver for that date.
I did find one thing amusing. On the effective dates portion, their Executive Director Xed out the “To” portion, and on the “From” portion wrote:
April 19, 2012 only
“Only”. I guess he wanted to make that really clear.
Anyways, we’ve seen that it is possible to get a waiver to go barefoot in the Statehouse. And if you ever think you are going to visit the Statehouse barefoot, feel free to download that PDF, fill it out and send it in.
So, I went to the Statehouse yesterday.
I went in the main door into the rotunda, where there is a State Trooper stationed. He didn’t say anything (but then again, I have no idea if he saw my feet). I wandered around a bit, without being accosted by anybody, and then went into the State Room, where they were about to hold one of the quarterly meetings of the CSRAB, the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board.
Oh, did I forget to tell you that April 19th was also the date for their next meeting? Oops.
When I walked in, the only people there were Director Carleton and his secretary. After saying hello, I thanked him for the waiver, and then sat down.
Then, when committee members came in I just asked them to consider removing the rule, and noted that the rule really wasn’t accomplishing anything.
There were also two new committee members, so I made sure to talk to them a little bit longer. Interestingly, one of them was a bit curious. “Haven’t you ever hurt your foot?” I told him that had happened only while bushwhacking deep in the woods, but never in any public building.
Regardless, the response from any of the older members was pretty much the same, “I think we made the right decision.” So, seriously, it’s not going to change (and I really didn’t expect it to).
But they all did get a chance to see me attending yet another CSRAB board meeting. In my bare feet. Even though they worked and worked and worked to put that rule into place because one day two years ago a State Trooper got all bent out of shape from seeing me and made a big fuss about it.
Your Government In Action.
Don’t you just love Beaurocracy? If you want something from them, you have to jump through more hoops than a circus tigar.
O.K., So they have this rule which can be sidestepped by any barefooter whenever they want. Just make sure every barefooter we know of, has the ability to copy and paste – ver batim (sp?) your proven “cause” for going barefoot and use it as often as possible to acquire a waiver. After a period of time where barefooters have gone in there numerous times, bring it to the boards attention that the rule appears to be useless.
I don’t know how long to want to keep messing with them or even how convenient going to the statehouse is for you, but you might consider asking for a waiver at least once a month (but then you kind of got to go and USE it) until either they stop giving them to you or they give you a permanent one. If they stop giving them to you, then you will have grounds to plead your case again with the precedent that it had never been a problem for them to grant you a waiver. This will force them to actually admit they just don’t like it rather than it being a safety factor.
Bob,
The whole waiver thing is insane. By giving you a waiver, they indirectly admit that the anti-barefoot rule is not about safety, but about something else. I rather doubt you can obtain a legal waiver to attend a construction site without a hard hat, or to have your chest X-rayed without a lead apron on your abdomen, even if you were disabled, only because you fill out some stupid application form. Why, many would gladly apply for a waiver not to use a seat belt because their collar bone is in pain, nobody is going to check it anyway
I do not know if this can be used to our advantage (and I think you used this argument in the library case), but it should be pretty obvious to people with common sense (even if those people do sincerely consider bare feet dangerous).
Victor,
But it might be about a fear of being sued. One of the clauses in the waiver deals with that. On the other hand, they aren’t concerned about the dangers of high heels.
In the end, I really think this is because those in power are offended that somebody might use their Statehouse barefoot (which is consistent with your comments about hard hats, etc.). And there is really no way to counter that kind of irrationality.
> there is really no way to counter that kind of irrationality
Other than barefooting becoming popular.