December 15[sup]th[/sup] was the first day I went barefoot the entire shift. I kicked my boots off as soon as the day crew left and only put them on again if I had to go into the office. When morning came I would put my boots back on so the day crew wouldn't know what I was up to. The guys I worked with teased me about it for a while, and I regularly got comments and questions from the warehouse workers when they came outside and saw me, but never received any official word about my behavior. From then until the end of April when I left there were only two nights I had to wear my boots. Both nights it was in the thirties and raining. The combination of low temperatures and ankle-deep water was just too much for my feet to handle. Other than that, it was all night, every night even if it was in the teens or twenties outside. For more than five months I walked over dirt, gravel, cement, and asphalt, not to mention the expanded-steel catwalk and steps on the truck. Every morning (except when it rained) my feet would be covered in dust and dirt.
Finally, at the end of April, the hassles of the job got to be just too much for me to tolerate. The job itself was no problem, but it was like working for Larry, Moe, and Curly. I showed up one night and found out about a new rule they had put in place. It was a typically stupid rule of the sort you'd expect from people who'd never done the job. I decided that would be my last night on the job. Being as I was no longer worried about being fired or disciplined in any way, I didn't even bother putting my boots on when I went into the office. By that time most everybody was aware of what I'd been doing, but this was the first time many of them had actually seen me barefoot. By the end of the shift I already knew I was going to make a grand exit. I put my boots in my duffle bag and stepped out of the truck. As I handed my paperwork to the site manager, who showed up early for a meeting, he looked at me startled and asked, "where are your shoes?" I smiled and pointed to my duffle bag. I then proceeded on the half-mile walk back to the parking lot. It was a route that took me through part of the warehouse and the production area, then directly down the main corridor right past all the offices. I walked by dozens of incoming workers, none of whom seemed to even notice my feet. The only two who said anything were two of my colleagues from the day crew. It blew their minds
I walked out the building, down a long stretch of asphalt and concrete, and across the gravel parking lot to my truck. It was the highlight of my barefoot "career".
That is what I call "going out with a bang".
