Travellers from abroad are often shocked by just how often we go barefoot in this part of the world — in the streets, in grocery stores, in cafes.   

But would you go barefoot to the cinema? 

A Scottish tourist has taken a picture of a person at the movies wearing no shoes and posted it on a New Zealand subreddit asking if this is a common occurrence. 

The traveller showed the Kiwi putting their feet up on the chair in front of them, which was empty. 

“It was odd seeing people walking around a city barefoot but I respect it, it’s comfy, let the dogs out y’know,” the Scot shared. “I’m sure it’s good for the auld foot form and health. 

“But this seemed mad to me, the next poor soul to sit in the seat in front is going to have the remnants of these twos pong wafting about their heads for a 120 minutes of run time. 

A Scottish tourist snapped this picture of bare feet seen at the cinema in New Zealand. Photo / Reddit 

“If this was Glasgow someone would have hurled a bottle of Coke/stolen iPhone at the back of his head before his foot had left his shoe. Is this just a cultural difference?” 

Kiwis were quick to tell the Scottish tourist that going barefoot was quite common in New Zealand — particularly during summer — but putting bare feet on the headrests of public chairs was definitely a no-go. 

“Putting feet on headrests — shoes or no shoes — is crap behaviour,” one shared. 

“The feet on the headrest thing is some nasty s***. Barefoot outside? Super-common during summer here,” another person chimed in. 

“If I’m wearing sandals at the movies I’ll usually take them off. I won’t, however, put them on the headrest in front of me,” one Kiwi explained. 

As for walking about with no shoes on, Kiwis encouraged the tourist to give it a go. Photo / M Normal, Unsplash 

“Welcome. No it is not normal. It is poor behaviour,” confirmed a fourth. 

Some called the act “disgusting”, “gross” and “rude”. 

As for walking about with no shoes on, Kiwis encouraged the tourist to give it a go. 

“My American family came to NZ and thought that the bare-feet thing was weird too. It is very normal here in NZ!” one person wrote. 

“I went the other way (South Africa to Florida before coming to NZ), and the first time I went out in public barefoot I had people running up to me in shock telling me how dangerous it was,” wrote another. 

“My mate was over in Scotland when he was a kid in summer, running around in bare feet. An elderly lady stopped her car and gave him £10 ($21) to buy some shoes, thought he was poor. His dad was an airline pilot,” a third shared.