Okay so I'm in NY, and I stop at a rest area. This crazy red-headed lady has about 17 kids with her and they are ALL BARE FOOT walking around inside the rest area, etc. The rest area floors, of course, are wet, soaked in urine and feces and god knows what else. Without thinking I said outloud "Oh my god they're bare foot" to my sister who was with me. So this lady says "YEH what about it??" So I said, "Oh sorry, I just was looking at how dirty the floors were." Then she says "they have tough feet." Should I have called Child Protective Services? The cops? I didn't say anything else to this hideous beast of a person. What would you have done?
2007-09-06 16:49:10 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Other - Society & Culture
lol to tell you the truth...i really would not care if they want to walk around barefoot and their mother or whomever she was knew then let them...they could walk around naked for all i would care.....it's not me lol ......i would just look at them and keep walking
2007-09-06 16:56:18 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
Even though that was a really BAD choice on her part, there is really nothing that can be done. I would NEVER let a child run around barefoot in an area like that. Yuck! I would have walked away. I honestly don't think the cops or Child Protective Services would have done anything. They only investigate abuse or severe neglect, even though her lack of intelligence is putting her kids at risk for getting really sick! What she did was more like negligence but it's not illegal.
2007-09-06 23:57:58 · answer #2 · answered by amyaz_98 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
It is NOT bad to go barefoot even at a rest area. Feet *are* very tough and you're at far, far greater risk of picking something up through your hands than through your feet *even in a filthy restroom*. Our skin is made to keep pathogens out. Unless you put your feet up on the table or lick your toes, the more visible dirt on our feet is far less risky than the less visible but no less germy stuff we pick up with our hands from door knobs, railings, handle bars, etc. Even if we wash our hands after using the restroom and before dinner, there's still more chance to transfer those germs to our food and/or face where they can enter our body; on our feet, the dirt just sits there until we wash it off.
The hookworm is the only non-tropical worm that can enter through the skin but it's pretty much gone from the South since modern plumbing replaced the outhouses, never was a problem in cooler climates.
It may also interest you that while it seems many store managers in the US get hyped up about the risks of bare feet, no medical doctor has ever had a problem with my bare feet. And I've unfortunately met dozens, not for me but accompanying my mother. Myself, I'm never sick anymore; I used to be sickly from early fall until late spring, coughing and sneezing no matter what I tried, but these past ten years I've been barefoot year-round -including in many restrooms- I've only called in sick once (for two days) and even a minor cough is rare.
There are many signs on US stores saying 'Shirts and shoes required by the Health Department', however those are NOT TRUE. Even in the US, contrary to popular belief, there are NO health laws against bare feet, insurance companies don't require or even recommend footwear for customers, and there are NO laws against driving barefoot. Individual stores may have a dress code but there are many stores even in the US that don't care; in other countries it's rarely an issue at all. Here in the Netherlands I've never even seen a 'no shoes, no shirts, no service' sign, nor on my trips to Belgium & Scotland, it's just a non-issue with store and restaurant management.
It's very sad there is so much bias against going barefoot in the US, since it's really not dangerous, gross or unhealthy, in fact it's a very comfortable and healthy thing to do! Please take a look at some real sources rather than getting a health education from the signs posted on store windows.
2007-09-07 01:30:36 · answer #3 · answered by Sheriam 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
What a dilemma!
I worked for the state in a rest area for 18 months and quit because of pitiful situations involving indigents that I was powerless to change (and I tried).
I called DHS several times to learn if they have food and clothes with no bruises they're good.
You have a good heart because you care. Blessings......
2007-09-06 23:56:11 · answer #4 · answered by Ju ju 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
would not have aid anything in the first place to be honest.........how she "drags" up her kids is of no concern to anyone when it is such a brief encounter.............and who knows maybe they did all have shoes back at the car but as some one who had two dress to at the same time I would imagine that she thought for a flying trip to the loo it was not worth the trouble. The only time I would worry is if it was someone that I came across on a regular basis and this was a pattern of their lives.
regards
2007-09-06 23:54:33 · answer #5 · answered by candy g 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I would have run like hell back to my car , got in, locked the doors and forgotten about it. I saw a lot of that while traveling from AZ to ME. I just used the butt napkins on the toilets, used a lot of baby wipes to wash my hands with and kept on driving.
2007-09-06 23:56:07 · answer #6 · answered by witchette 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Oh wow she sounds like a character. I would've been shocked too but I probably wouldn't have said anything, at least not right then. I was raised right, I talk about people behind their backs.
2007-09-06 23:56:10 · answer #7 · answered by apocalypso 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It might seem nasty but it aint gonna hurt the kids to walk barefoot thru even worse stuff than that.
People walk barefoot lotsa places that seem clean, but are really much dirtier than that. Beaches, forests, muddy bogs, even some sidewalks are worse.
And even tho she was rude, the lady was right...feet are tough.
Now I aint condoning her actions cuz it's probably not acceptable there to have the kids goin barefoot in public like that. But it ain't gonna harm the kids none.
2007-09-06 23:58:29 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋
I stopped at a number of rest areas in NY while driving truck... never saw one as you describe... from your statement I tend to thnk you over state just a bit.... in any case... just go on about your business... what you report is stupid on her part... but you do not know all the facts either... or you did not report fully... so myob
2007-09-06 23:56:54 · answer #9 · answered by ? 5 · 1⤊ 3⤋
It's AMERICA! Land of the FREE? So, YOUR opinion about what surfaces HER CHILDREN should be allowed to walk on barefooted matters more than HER opinion, as the mom? You may not like her, but ... she IS THE MOM!
What should you have done? Mind your own business! Urine on bare feet may be gross, but it isn't child abuse. It isn't a jailable offense. It isn't something that will kill you! Before public rest rooms, didn't people walk the earth, that was in effect one big rest area rest room?
2007-09-06 23:56:51 · answer #10 · answered by Just_One_Man's_Opinion 5 · 4⤊ 5⤋
ohhhh the atrocities and the horrors one may experience in an American rest stop.
2007-09-06 23:54:39 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋