Attention, Johnson students! It’s that time of year again when you have to be aware of spring fever. Symptoms include lounging in a hammock, skipping class, excessive sunbathing and, most importantly forgetting your shoes when you do go to class. Don’t panic, it’s not summer yet, and you will have plenty of time to be barefoot.

Every year I am blown away by the number of students plagued by this forgetfulness. I want to stop them and say, “Excuse me, are you feeling okay? It seems as though you left the house this morning without your shoes.” Who would do such a thing? This is a real problem that needs to be addressed before it spreads campus-wide.

I know we have become quite liberal, but in no way is it appropriate for students to be coming to class without shoes. Curb your barefoot desires and reserve it for frolicking in the grass, playing at the beach or whatever you choose to do in your free time. Our buildings are not your living rooms and should be treated with the common courtesy of appropriate footwear.

It all goes back to the basic rule of no shirt, no shoes, no service. This means you need to dress appropriately for where you are. Your professors found the time in their day to get dressed properly, so why can’t you? Wouldn’t you be a little offended or taken aback if your professor showed up to class clearly missing a key wardrobe element? You might even be scarred for life if they sat down at the front of the class, put their bare feet up on the desk and wriggled their toes for everyone to see. You would think something is very wrong, and it is when you aren’t wearing shoes in a setting such as this.

Don’t get me wrong, I love being barefoot, but there is a time and place. Someone’s unkempt feet can prove to be particularly distracting when you are trying to pay attention to class. Later in life, you cannot show up at your office shoeless and should make it a general practice now to not inflict your feet on unsuspecting bystanders.

I draw your attention to this matter with your health and wellbeing in mind. In the unfortunate event that you are walking to class barefoot and step on something, there are serious health risks involved. You don’t want to have to deal with the panic of trying to remember the last time you got a tetanus shot. If you love being barefoot, you don’t want the hassle of wearing a bandage while your wound heals. There is, of course ,the additional danger of stepping on a rogue prickly plant hidden in the grass and having its barbs puncture your feet. Ouch!

How many times have you walked in to a restaurant or gas station barefoot? Chances are your answer is none because someone would stop you and tell you that shoes are required in establishments such as this. Also, being barefoot somewhere like that is disgusting. Your feet are part of your body, clearly, and exposing your skin to whatever number of germs that are on a floor is a real gamble. You don’t know where people’s shoes have been and what they are tracking around and leaving on the floor. This same idea applies to our school building floors. While they may appear clean, you don’t know what’s lurking beyond the abilities of your vision. Remember that cut on your foot that you refuse to bandage because you can’t stand covering your feet? Well, now it’s infected because you continue to subject it to dirt and who knows what else. Public building floors and rugs are breeding grounds for germs and bacteria waiting to latch on to you and you make yourself an easy target when you don’t wear shoes. Simply slipping on any footwear of your choice eliminates all of these risks.

Please, for your health and the sake of campus wellbeing, wear shoes when necessary. Show your professors and fellow students the respect they deserve by not only wearing shoes, but keeping them on during class. I am not asking too much, even a simple pair of sandals will protect you from a number of hazards. Any closed toed shoes will also protect you from the embarrassment of people seeing that you forgot to cut your toenails this morning. If you can’t bear it and are feeling too constricted, you can take them off as soon as you leave the building. Just watch your step! We are so close, summer is almost here and you can be barefoot as often as you want. But for now, while we are still in classes, keep it in your shoes. Thank you.