Scottish tourist shocked by New Zealand cinema performance: 'Is this normal?'

Foreign travelers are often shocked by how often we go barefoot in this part of the world — on the streets, in grocery stores, in coffee shops.

But would you go to the cinema barefoot?

A Scottish tourist took a picture of a person in the cinema without shoes and posted it on a New Zealand subreddit asking if this is a common occurrence.

The traveler pointed to the Kiwis putting their feet up on the chair in front of them, which was empty.

“It was weird to see people walking around a city barefoot, but I respect that, it's comfortable, let the dogs out,” the Scotsman shared. “I'm sure it's good for leg shape and health.

“But that struck me as crazy, the next poor soul sitting in the front seat will have the remains of these two pongs hanging around their heads for 120 minutes.

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

Kiwis were quick to tell the Scottish tourist that walking around barefoot was quite common in New Zealand – particularly in the 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 stupid behavior,” shared one.

“Feet on the headrest is an ugly thing***. Barefoot outside? Super-crowded here in the summer,” said another person.

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

“Welcome. No it's not normal. It's bad behaviour,” confirmed a fourth.

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

As for walking without shoes, Kiwis encouraged the tourist to do so.

“My American family came to New Zealand and thought the barefoot thing was weird too. It's very normal here in New Zealand!' one person wrote.

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

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