I recently stayed in a place where the use of flip flops was taken to the extreme. A little on the history of flip flops first though. The name flip flop is actually an onomatopoeia, meaning its name is derived from the sound it makes. I personally detest this sound. Not the flop part but the flip part because with each separation of the sandal from the heel I visualize a sweaty foot adhering to the footwear in order to make that sucking flip sound as it’s released.

The earliest variation of flip flops were worn by the ancient Egyptians, but the popularized version we know today came from Japan at the end of World War II. From a practical standpoint, they prevent the introduction of foreign materials into the house. Most Asian households have entryways that are littered with flip flops. What I didn’t realize was the extent to which this sterilization process could be taken.

The place I stayed had a footwear rack at the entrance to the home. The regular residents would remove their “outdoor” footwear here, exchanging them for an pair of indoor flip flops. Those flip flops were used to walk about the common area but were removed just outside the door of their private rooms.

Here the sandals were left on top of a cloth mat which was used to wipe the wearer’s feet before putting on the private room flip flops. Already believing this to be extreme, I found out later that there was an additional set of flip flops inside the bathroom so that anything picked up on the floor could not be tracked back into the bedroom.

It was entertaining to watch how naturally the people of the house slipped from one set of flip flops to another as they crossed each threshold. It gave the impression of a silicon chip clean room, where the workers are careful not to introduce even the smallest contaminant into the sterile environment.

I had the challenge of performing this ritual myself the other day. I was inside a temple that required the removal of your shoes before entry. It was a strange but pleasant sensation to feel the floor upon my feet in a public space. As I was leaving, I noticed a sign for the washroom and decided to use it as I wanted to avoid the inevitability of having pay for a public one once I left the building.

As I opened the door to the washroom, I saw flip flops littered about the doorway. At first, I assumed that they must belong to someone else until I looked at the wet floor of the bathroom and realized they were for my use to keep my feet clean. However well intentioned, I couldn’t help but be disgusted as I heard the flop of someone else’s sweaty foot slap against my heel.