‘Masks mandatory; shoes optional’: US expat living in Australia is left ‘shocked’ after spotting customers shopping barefoot at a supermarket
- An American expat has spotted Australians shopping barefoot at a supermarket
- Sophia Kim moved Down Under from California, Los Angeles, in February 2020
- During a quick shop, she was surrounded by shoppers without their shoes on
- In her TikTok video , the 29-year-old said: ‘Masks mandatory; shoes optional’
An American bikini designer living in Sydney has revealed a culture shock she experienced after spotting Australians shopping barefoot at a supermarket.
Sophia Kim, who moved to New South Wales from Los Angeles in February 2020, went on a ‘quick and short trip’ to Woolworths when she noticed many customers casually walking around the aisles without their shoes.
While most Aussies consider ditching their shoes and going barefoot in public to be perfectly normal, the habit comes as a surprise to many expats, including Sophia.
In her TikTok video, the 29-year-old said: ‘Masks mandatory; shoes optional.’
An American bikini designer living in Sydney has revealed a culture shock she experienced after spotting Australians shopping barefoot at a supermarket
Sophia Kim (pictured) went on a ‘quick and short trip’ to Woolworths when she noticed many customers casually walking around the aisles without their shoes
‘I think it’s really interesting people don’t wear shoes. I know it’s a really Aussie thing but shoes are optional, rain or shine,’ she said.
‘But I’m not hating. This is a culture shock.’
During her grocery shop, Sophia – who’s the owner of swimwear label Siempre Golden – said she even noticed the soles of some shoppers’ feet ‘completely black’.
She added: ‘I’m sure people do this in Hawaii but they definitely don’t do this in LA.’
While most Aussies consider ditching their shoes and going barefoot in public to be perfectly normal, the habit comes as a surprise to many expats, including Sophia
Her video has since been viewed more than 200,000 times, with many Australians insisting they have ‘never’ walked out in public barefoot.
‘Born and bred Aussie and this has always grossed me out. The amount of times my mates have stepped on glass… No sympathy. Wear shoes,’ one woman wrote.
Another said: ‘Such bogan behaviour. Shoes are cheap – it’s no excuse. Plus all the germs,’ while one added: ‘It’s not an overall Aussie thing, it’s usually a small town, beach Aussie thing. If people did this in suburbs or city, they’d get looked at funny.’
And another woman said: ‘As an Australia, I do not condone this.’
The video shoes shoppers casually walking around a Woolworths store without their shoes on
While other Aussies revealed they are used to stepping out in public barefoot.
‘Growing up next to the beach, you get used to walking around with no shoes. They are too much of an inconvenience – either slides or no shoes at all,’ one wrote.
Another said: ‘Me in western Sydney an hour from the beaches – I’m always barefoot if I just run down to the shops,’ while one added: ‘I live in Kirrawee, people walk around here barefoot too and we ain’t that close to the beach.’
And one insisted: ‘100 per cent shoes are optional… I never wear shoes.’
Others explained how the habit is usually common for those who live near beaches.
‘This is such coastal behaviour, so normal,’ one said, while another added: ‘I live in Cronulla in Sydney. I would say 50 per cent wear shoes at the shops being so close to the beach.’