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Please don't rearrange our shoes when we turn up, paramedics in Japan urge

theguardian.com

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Re: Please don't rearrange our shoes when we turn up, paramedics in Japan urge

#31

Post by Gigachad »

eqvinox wrote: post #29
Gigachad wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your feet do not need support, they were evolved over millions of years to support themselves. Someone who habitually wears shoes indoors might lose the muscle strength in their feet in the same way someone who drives everywhere loses leg strength, but this isn't natural or optimal.

Sorry, I phrased that poorly. The muscular support is its own thing (and I agree with you) but your soles don't deal well with hot summer asphalt surfaces, glass shards or even small pebbles surfaces.

I agree, but those bits of glass shards and pebbles end up wedged in shoes and released indoors. Shoes outdoors are important, but the exact stuff they are protecting you against is the stuff you don't want in your carpets.

Re: Please don't rearrange our shoes when we turn up, paramedics in Japan urge

#32

Post by eqvinox »

jankcorn wrote: post #18
eqvinox wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having been to Japan several times… and actually studying Japanese studies… I can see why you're saying this but it's very superficial. None of the southern "essence" that caused the split & war is there in Japan at this point. Or do you mean it's as if the South seceded, then proceeded to lose anyway due their policies being a natural disadvantage , and then developed, out-northing the North? What is characteristic…

When I lived in Japan and was asked "Why are you interested in Japan?", I used to respond "It is the only non-Western country(at the time) where I have seen an extremely high level of technical/economic development and it is interesting to see similiarities/differences". (This is of course, long long before the rise of modern China) The society is based so strongly on group cohesion and de-emphasis of the individual,…

Does the American South actually have that kind of group cohesion?

Re: Please don't rearrange our shoes when we turn up, paramedics in Japan urge

#33

Post by qsera »

Gigachad wrote: post #24
eqvinox wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That's the whole function of shoes though. Nah, the main function of shoes is (to support your feet and) prevent injury. Cleanliness is second on the list. [ed.: added braces]

Your feet do not need support, they were evolved over millions of years to support themselves. Someone who habitually wears shoes indoors might lose the muscle strength in their feet in the same way someone who drives everywhere loses leg strength, but this isn't natural or optimal.

> they were evolved over millions of years to support themselves.

But not on hard floor.

Re: Please don't rearrange our shoes when we turn up, paramedics in Japan urge

#34

Post by jevogel »

Gigachad wrote: post #24
eqvinox wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That's the whole function of shoes though. Nah, the main function of shoes is (to support your feet and) prevent injury. Cleanliness is second on the list. [ed.: added braces]

Your feet do not need support, they were evolved over millions of years to support themselves. Someone who habitually wears shoes indoors might lose the muscle strength in their feet in the same way someone who drives everywhere loses leg strength, but this isn't natural or optimal.

We didn't evolve to walk on concrete and asphalt, though.

Re: Please don't rearrange our shoes when we turn up, paramedics in Japan urge

#35

Post by Izkata »

Grombobulous wrote: post #22
Gigachad wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the whole function of shoes though. If outside was as clean as my floors at home, I wouldn't need shoes. I have to imagine the person who leaves their shoes on either never goes outside, or just has filthy floors.

That is not the primary function of shoes. The function of shoes is to support your feet, protect them from harsh surfaces, keep them dry. Unlike the commenter above you, I don’t really agree that it’s completely sanitary, though. I’m just saying that keeping you clean is actually pretty far down the list. Another thing about whether the floor is sanitary: that changes a lot based on how you use your floor. If you ea…

The "support your feet" argument came from the belief that everyone is supposed to have a prominent arch and that shoes could force your feet into that shape, but as far as I knew had been thoroughly refuted over the past 15-20 years. Forcing your feet into having an arch when it's not your natural form can actually cause problems further down the line. Soles not being flexible also changes how you use your ankle and IIRC how you balance while walking, possibly contributing to back problems.

Keeping your feet clean and protecting them from surfaces are the primary purposes of shoes. Some people need them for support after having worn shoes too often (my parents are in this situation and have a separate set of "indoor shoes" just for this), or some sort of disability that needs those super-wide-sole shoes, but in general they are not for supporting your feet.

Re: Please don't rearrange our shoes when we turn up, paramedics in Japan urge

#36

Post by agarwaen163 »

eqvinox wrote: post #26
Georgelemental wrote: post #20

Here in America, EMS personnel generally wear tall, reinforced boots; they are considered protective/safety equipment. We would never take them off just to enter a home

Probably the same in most Western countries. It's self reinforcing though; if you were expecting to take them off you'd never pick those shoes by default, rather leave them in the back of the car (which presumably/hopefully is what they do in Japan, in case they *do* need them? idk…)

if you do need them you're not going to have time to go get them as an Emergency Responder. I think the pragmatic course then is to disregard etiquette and tradition for safety and practicality in a general sense.

Re: Please don't rearrange our shoes when we turn up, paramedics in Japan urge

#37

Post by Gigachad »

f33d5173 wrote: post #30
cannonpr wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, I can’t honestly personally understand taking your shoes off in an emergency, however I am sure they have gotten very efficient at it.. I can say that if they didn’t it would cause damage to the home, many Japanese homes, especially traditional but also in general just aren’t built to take shoes. Tatami mats, and even hinoki floors despite being “hard” for a softwood, is still a softwood, so some level of genuine…

Most shoes have rubber soles, to do damage to the floor it would have to be softer than rubber.

You can quite easily have small rocks wedged in the tread of your shoes which will scratch floors.

Re: Please don't rearrange our shoes when we turn up, paramedics in Japan urge

#38

Post by wodenokoto »

shdon wrote: post #7

In Dutch culture it is far more common to keep shoes on literally everywhere, so perhaps I'm biased, but I would think that in an emergency where every second counts, these people can be forgiven for not adhering to the strictest etiquette? I'm not surprised the person last mentioned in the article, who suggests exactly that, got 800 likes on their comment. I am surprised that it even needed to be said. Now I'm sudde…

I think we can roughly split paramedic visits into “patient needs to get out ASAP” and patient can’t get out alone or with help of friends and family”, so I would hope they keep their shoes on for the first type.

But ambulances in with full sirens begging over their speaker-system to have pedestrians at Shibuya crossing let the vehicle through, is probably the worst thing about Japan.

As for your second question, I’m reminded of Bob Mortimer in Would I lie To You: “… then the fire brigade came and ruined the whole house” - “Bob, surely the fire was ruining the house” - “No, water damage”. Maybe if those darn firefighters had taken their boots off, there had been a bit more left of Bobs childhood home.

Re: Please don't rearrange our shoes when we turn up, paramedics in Japan urge

#39

Post by eqvinox »

agarwaen163 wrote: post #36
eqvinox wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably the same in most Western countries. It's self reinforcing though; if you were expecting to take them off you'd never pick those shoes by default, rather leave them in the back of the car (which presumably/hopefully is what they do in Japan, in case they *do* need them? idk…)

if you do need them you're not going to have time to go get them as an Emergency Responder. I think the pragmatic course then is to disregard etiquette and tradition for safety and practicality in a general sense.

Everyone except the driver has ample time to swap boots during the drive to the location. (In cases where not, I'd also default to robust safety boots.)

Depending on the boots, you might not want to wear them while "idle"¹ in any case, though that's mostly a non-concern with modern safety shoes.

¹ mandatory note: most emergency responders have tons of work while "idle", I just mean "not actively responding"

Re: Please don't rearrange our shoes when we turn up, paramedics in Japan urge

#40

Post by alfg »

bigstrat2003 wrote: post #15
theonething wrote: post #12

tangential, but I don't understand why keeping your shoes on in your house is a thing. It's so unsanitary. The bottom of your shoes are in contact with things like the floor of public bathrooms, animal feces (when walking on grass), dirt, mud, etc. And it's so much more comfortable to be in your house barefoot, with socks or with slippers. So much cleaner. I'm disgusted when people try to walk in my house with their…

There's nothing unsanitary about it. The bottoms of your shoes simply are not that dirty unless you're walking through abnormally dirty situations.

Like outside? It's so wild to me how some can step into their living space (or even bedroom) with the same shoes they use outside.
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