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Sure, Lonely Island may have made flip flops the height of summer fashion fun (they didn't) with their catchy lyric: "I got my swim trunks, and my flippie-floppies"—but whether you're on or off a boat, this staple is the latest subject of a slow news summer scaremonger report! The Daily News warns that many New Yorkers just love their flip floppy footwear, but make no mistake: THEY WILL KILL YOU. Are you wearing open toe shoes right now? Read on.
Here's how it works: The "film of grime that coats your feet at the end of a day of flopping around town is some dangerous dirt. Lab tests of two reporters' flip-flops, worn for four days, revealed a potentially deadly germ—Staphylococcus aureus—lurking on the rubber" (that's what she said). If you have an open wound, the bacteria enters the bloodstream, and when left untreated, some bacteria will kill you after attacking your internal organs. You've been previously warned about the dangers of foot exposure to sand, grass, and Crocs. Maybe those girls who wear Uggs in the summer are on to something?
After the two brave reporters wore their flip flops on various subways, in Prospect Park, bars in the West Village, a Cyclones game and a public restroom, the flops were covered with nearly 18,100 bacteria varieties (the paper notes that the pair that went to Coney Island and and the public restroom had roughly 13,900 more!). On top of picking up some fecal bacteria, E. coli, and random things from people's spit... researchers note there's also "garbage and rat-doo. This city is strewn with rats, and rats are harbingers of all sorts of germs. The same is true with cockroaches. It is all potentially harmful." No one's laughing now, Samberg.
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innocuous health scare of the day.
We're all gonna die!!!!!!!!!!
(Eventually.)
Real men don't wear flip-flops, nor sandals, and everyone knows that by now.
Men of Sparta wear sandals!
Ahh! Real Bacteria!
I see what you did there!
people who wear shoes in their houses are nasty.
ITA. Another nasty and totally disgusting thing I see a lot: people pick up their small child, who was just walking outside on the dirty sidewalk, and stand them on the restaurant takeout or grocery store checkout counter. Seriously, WTF?
I saw a 2-year old girl at CitiField running around barefoot. Up and down the gross stairs between the seats. Ew.
If you wear Crocs you deserve to have your toes chewed off by a rat.
I would wear sandals year round if I could get away with it. I fail to see how getting bacteria on the bottom of your sandals is any worse than getting it on the bottom of your sneakers. If you've actually got an open wound on your foot you shouldn't be wearing sandals in the city anyway...no? Besides, sandals or closed-toed shoes, they still track that bacteria all over your apartment when you walk in.
Retarded NYC health scare #1038460183650816308560836
Exactly my thoughts, nicemarmot. Maybe it's the idea that when you take off your flips at the door and continue to sit on the couch, etc. your bare feet could still be carrying germs? (which would not happen with closed-toed shoes)
Silly health scare - it's not as if I was planning to lick or serve dinner on my sandal when I get home.
Why couldn't that happen with closed-toed shoes? How common is it that you take off your shoes and put your feet in the same exact spot the shoe was just standing on?
The bacteria that the article is referring to builds up on the bottom of your feet and the *top* of the flip flop. They aren't talking about the bacteria on the bottom of your shoes.
Me too, i live for the open toe shoe/flip-flip/sandal season, and stretch it as LONG as i can.
I live in an apartment building, we have pets, germs are inevitable, i'll try to be more conscious of the fact but, regardless, i am NOT giving up the flips.
Which brings up another topic: it's disgustingly dirty to take your dog out for a walk and a dump on the city street, then bring him back and let him climb in your bed to sleep. Yet people do it all the time.
yeah, doggie is banned from the bedroom. But he's a kissing bandit so either way if the germs are there, we're getting them, been good for the past year though.
Plus, you can't run well in flip-flops when a dirty bomb goes off and people frantically attempt to escape the carnage and mayhem.
Just thought I'd add another layer of needless paranoia to this story.
My company handbook actually states that during summer months we should keep "appropriate footwear" handy to better escape the building during an emergency.
I believe this was started after the blackout, and people not being able to navigate the emergency exits in the dark with flips on.
Common Sense 101.
I always wear sensible shoes in case they drop the bomb.
Hahahahaha...I love it!!
The media loves to scare people. But really, ever check out a chick's feet late in the day when she's wearing flip-flops or other open shoes? That shit can get nasty. I don't know how they do it.
Almost as nasty as the mess I make in my pants while checking out a chick's feet late in the day.
Comment of the day!
Wash them. *End hysteria*
I always wash my feet when I get home. If I have been wearing sandals, my feet are usually visibly dirty. It's disgusting.
p.s. the girls that wear Uggs in the summer were NEVER on to anything
Just really, really sweaty feet.
Damn, I just took a walk to the supermarket in flip flops. Brb shower?
sandals on a boat, in the country, or at the beach = totally cool.
sandals on a subway, splashing through a sidewalk puddle, or in a stadium bathroom= horrendous and disgusting.
I've got a nautical themed pashmina afgan.
another report from the medical journal, No Shit
Remember when you were a kid in the burbs, running around in your flip-flops, and suddenly the bit between your toes separated from the flip-flop and your toes got ground into the pavement, often along with your knees, palms, and face? I still wince at the thought of it.
LOVE the avatar...Question is a fav of mine!
Can't you also get TB if you have a cut on your foot and you step in someone's spit?
I love:
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=fashion
ha ha ha, i love that guy & his page! Completely off this topic, but you gotta check out the "I am better then your kids" section for the crappy art, 2 pages of sheer laughter!
Um, S. Aureus is one of the most common bacteria—so common that up to a third of the human population regularly carries it at any time on their skin. Sure, it can make you sick, but I mean, if you're touching your feet and then touching your mouth without washing your hands then, well, I won't say you deserve it but... Before the advent of shoes, people survived just fine by walking around barefoot. I'm not advocating you do just that, but...yeah. Must be a slow week for the Daily News.
I never wear anything but thick soled shoes on these filthy streets. I have no idea why you would wear anything else.
www.forgotten-ny.com
I wouldn't be caught dead in flip-flops.
How many flip-flop related deaths occur each year? If it's less than the amount of bacteria related deaths from fruit-filled mints in the glass bowl near the cashier at the diner, than there's nothing to worry about.
"How many flip-flop related deaths occur each year?"
Millions.
Grandpa Bostonist was right!
I hope this is true. Serves these dopes right!
When the hell did flip-flops become accepted footwear at the office? (I'm mainly referring to women here.) Does that mean I can start wearing shorts to work? Sure, I'll look like an idiot -- but since most flip-floppers already do, well, I won't feel so bad. (And I'm talking a real office, not some street-level realtor or tax prep business.)
And hey, any of you flippy folks get a look at your feet by, say, 2 in the afternoon? Absolutely gross. Not to mention the wear and tear these things put on your feet.
And anytime I catch someone falling over themselves while wearing said shoes? I laugh my ass off.
Simmer down, 1950's Corporate Man! Have a liquid lunch and chase the secretary around the desk, you'll feel better.
It has been common on the west coast for decades, how tight-assed are you NYers anyways?
Work in stilettos for a week and that will answer your question.
boat engine makes noise motheruffers!