Can I go shoeless in the office? | Politics | The Guardian

Can I go shoeless in the office? | Politics | The Guardian: "I have been in the morning conference for six minutes when the woman sitting next to me stands up and abruptly leaves and I can't help but worry that she's fleeing from my socks. There's nothing exceptionally unusual about these socks; they're thick and brown, with a simple pattern, bought, if you must know, from Gap about six years ago, long before I'd ever heard the words 'ethical consumer'. They're good socks. In fact, they're one of my favourite pairs. It's just that, unlike the three dozen other people in the room, I'm not wearing any shoes with them. So when the person sitting closest to me steps outside, I have to assume that either the weirdness, or worse, the smell, may have been just a bit too much for her."