I find the Occasional Barefoot Girl to be a wonderfully fascinating creature.  She can catch you by surprise.  Walking shoeless into your worst day, she can instantly make you forget all of your troubles.  She, with her pretty bare feet, will lift your spirits as surely as a springtime breeze.

And, conversely, she can show up wearing closed-toed shoes on the warmest day of the year.  You, of course, don't know what to say to call attention to the fact, so you just go on wondering, looking forward to the next day when she'll remember to forget her shoes.

At the heart of this barefoot girl is a complete indifference as to whether or not she's wearing shoes.  She is equally comfortable wearing shoes as not.  It is this quality that places her in the category of a true barefoot girl.

Only by being regularly seen in public places in her bare feet does she earn this distinction.  Normal Barefoot Girls do not qualify for this classification because they are not generally seen barefoot in public - only at home or at the beach.  The Occasional Barefoot Girl, on the other hand, does go barefoot in all of the public places that you don't normally expect to see barefoot girls.

She just doesn't do it all the time.  This is what makes her so extremely fascinating.  In my experience, there has been no identifiable pattern as to when she is barefoot and when she is not.

I would think that, if she were comfortable in her bare feet, she would be that way all the time.  Or, if she were comfortable wearing shoes, that she would do that all the time.  But the Occasional Barefoot Girl seems equally comfortable both ways, so you can never predict how she'll be.  You can hope, but you can never expect.

If she happens to be wearing shoes when you first meet, you might miss her.  You could easily mistake her for a Normal Barefoot Girl.  I have actually done this myself.

This situation is both frustrating and tantalizing.  Although you may miss one every now and then, it makes you think.  How many Occasional Barefoot Girls are hiding in the general populace?  How many of them just happened to be in their shoe-wearing mood the one time you had the chance to meet them?

And how hard should you try to find out if you meet a girl who totally captures your interest, but has shoes on...?

All these questions and more will be answered as we continue our journey to study and appreciate the American barefoot girl.

Now, I'm sure you'll want to continue reading about the highest form of barefoot girl.

Or, you can just return from the Occasional Barefoot Girl to The Barefoot Girl Spotter's Guide.