They are great for spotting who is a huge twat though. Anyone wearing them in any capacity that doesn't directly involve running: gigantic twat. Anyone wearing them in a capacity directly involving running: only marginal twat.
Do you have that attitude toward all barefoot-inspired/minimal shoes, or only the foot-glove-style with the toes?
I can't stand the way they look - but I don't disrespect those running with them, unless other indicators are present to strongly suggest some level of douchery.
I knew many who were strongly upset when the military, or at least the Army, banned them for running while in uniform. I believe the other minimal shoes made the cut, but they weren't having any of the toe-style.
There's a certain attitude with trends like this. Some have the weirdest approach to them, and really go far to make themselves a giant douche about it, usually almost having the cult-like attitude the worst CrossFit offenders have: Rule Number 1: Never stop talking about toe-shoes and their awesomeness and how they directly contribute to your awesomeness.
Others, however, are humble and normal. They may even have other trends they pick up, all about trying to get back to nature.
And really, what's wrong about getting back to nature? We do so many things wrong these days, we drag our body down from optimal potential with bad diets, incorrect form or approach to an activity, more psychotropic drugs than we need, etc etc etc.
There's taking things to an extreme and being a douche, but there's also the potential to simply adopt new trends when science actually suggests there may be a major benefit, simply for the sake of your well-being and mental health.
I know I'm personally trying to take small steps to try to undo what the past few generations have encouraged or seemingly made the norm. That's what has been great with the rapid advancement in science and health and our understanding of basic concepts - we're seeing the evidence that it actually behooves us to take a step back.
Others see these things as simple trends or fads, and still others see those who are taking multiple steps to buck past trends as hipster or douchey. I think it's really only about the individual attitudes and how they present their approaches to "going back to basics". But many don't even look past the obvious things, like "oh they ride a bike..." or "oh they wear toe shoes... what a douche" simply because they've presented a case of apparent "non-conformity" - because conforming to society when conformity means more unnecessary harm to ourselves and/or to our environment is exactly what everyone should be doing. It's the cool thing to do these days!
Way off topic, but I had to.
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