Why Kiwis Are Actually Hobbits

Or at least in one way.

It is socially acceptable to not wear shoes sometimes in public. What. Is. This. Shenanigans? I have noticed this too many times to count-- whether in a store or just on the street, you are guaranteed to see people not wearing shoes. Sometimes they have them, and are carrying them, sometimes they don't appear to have shoes at all. And these are not homeless people, or people whose feet are killing them from wearing high heels. They just did not want to wear shoes... I don't get it. I've even seen this in the city center, where you would think "Certainly one must wear shoes here. City streets are gross, but respectable places where shoes are worn all the time," but you would be ever so wrong. Kiwis just don't seem to mind the lack of shoes. There are no signs along the lines of "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service." I don't understand this freedom of the feet. Why the need to go shoeless? Probably to air out their hobbit feet.