What are your feet saying about you?

Summer's here: time for sandals, thongs and bare feet. But did know that many people judge you by your feet?

Yes, you read right. People actually do draw conclusions about you based on your feet. While your eyes may be the windows to your soul, your soles tell observers even more. So, if your feet could talk, what would they say about you? Well it seems they actually do talk and say quite a lot! If you feet are soft and pink and your toenails are clean and sporting the latest fashion shades of polish, that would seem to indicate a younger woman who really cares about all aspects of her appearance, and for some men, feet like that are actually quite erotic, whether the owner of the feet is young or old. But then, there's feet like mine...far from erotic...and the kind of feet I wish I could hide all year round: scaly and rough with cracked heels that bleed in winter and as for my nails, well let's not go there okay? Certainly, they're not the feet or toes a man would like to caress or kiss anymore. But why do I bring up this sensuous aspect to your feet? Well believe it or not,

What a lot of people don't know is the foot area of the brain is right next door to the genital area in the brain," Amen said. "So a foot rub is really foreplay. ... We all have a sensory strip in our brain. If I touch your left hand, it's felt in the sensory strip on the right side of the brain. If I touch your right foot, it is felt in the sensory area that is neighbour to your genital area.

Aha. So that's why my hubby used to love playing toesies with me when we first got together. These days he just runs a mile when he looks at my feet. Well, if I'm honest, the rest of me doesn't do much for him either. But I digress... I like to console myself with the thought that these are the feet of a woman who's worked most of her life and spent many hours on her feet, with very little time for pampering them. I tell myself that about my hands too which aren't adorned in rings and aren't soft and lovely after years in dish detergent and bathtub cleansers. Yes, I'm afraid that having lovely feet and hands and being able to get pedicures and manicures is a privilege I can't afford. But there's consolation: I bet there are many other women out there like me, or at least, I hope so. But say, did you know that

... some Chinese girls had their feet bound, their toes and arches broken, to keep them small so that the girls would appear wealthy and worthy. It hurts to look at photos of 80-year-old women, their feet three inches long.

You know, somehow that makes me feel a whole lot better. My feet may be ugly but at least they're natural. But whatever the case, the bottom line is FEET MATTER!

At a nail shop on Thayer Street near downtown Silver Spring, a pedicurist is working on the foot of Holly Johnson, a medical clerk. She cares very much about the condition of her feet, because lots of people judge you not by your handbag or that diamond on your finger but by sizing you up at your feet. Looking for cracks in the psyche, cracked heels. Bunions. Long toenails. Cuticles growing like mountain ridges. And worst of all, corns.

Ay yay yay! So my cracked heels indicate cracks in my psyche. Wonder if they know I have scleroderma which is turning my skin stone-like and tough and causing splits everywhere? I don't have bunions or corns, thank heaven, but I do wonder what they're supposed to indicate. Maybe my warped sense of humour? As for the long toenails...hmmm ... I think I prefer this take on the subject: perhaps people whose feet are hard and cracked should be worthy of deeper respect.

Like Hughes' character Jesse B. Simple, wouldn't hardened feet say something about that person -- that he must have walked up mountains barefoot, stubbed his toes on rocks, trying to tie up the cow and still make it to school on time? Wouldn't a man with hardened soles be more interesting than a man with baby-soft feet?

Ditto a woman n'est-ce pas? Well the next time you catch someone staring at your feet, bet you'll be wondering what your feet are saying to them. I hate my feet but there's not much I can do about them except hope people don't base their opinion of me on my feet! How about you. Have you looked at your feet lately?