The Dangers of Going Barefoot in the Park

Have editors at the New York Times allowed their career-related anxieties to metastasize into full-blown  paranoia, or is it really risky to toss our shoes and take a walk in the park?  Geezer doesn’t reside in Manhattan, (and he does toss the shoes whenever it is socially acceptable) so he will defer to authorities like Giuseppe Militello, an assistant professor of clinical dermatology at Columbia University, who tells Times’  reporters that "getting wet feet by walking barefoot in damp grass can damage the skin’s natural barrier, allowing infections to take hold." Militello says people could be vulnerable to infection from three main types of
organisms, including
pseudomonas bacteria, the type of fungus that causes athlete’s foot,
and the virus that causes plantar warts.

Want some more reasons to worry about going barefoot in the park. Read more in the New York Times.