- Hi everyone, I'm Taylor, and welcome back to "Debatable,"
the show where the most opinionated debaters
face off to take off the internet's favorite hot topics.
Our panel of expert judges will weigh in on each argument
and finally declare a winner,
putting an end to years of discourse.
Let's meet today's debaters.
First up, we have Sandor Lorange.
He's a Fordham student,
the Vice President of the Fordham debate team,
and he's also an ordained minister,
thank you so much for being here with us today, Father.
We also have Jess Reed.
She's a former collegiate debater
and also has a tattoo of Yosemite Sam,
but enough about them, let's get down to the serious issues.
Today's resolve is,
"It's okay to be barefoot on an airplane."
On the affirmative,
we have Jess, and Jess,
you have 60 seconds on the clock, starting now.
- There is no FAA regulation
saying that you cannot be barefoot on a plane.
So unfortunately, even if some people do find it unsavory,
it is perfectly okay
for you to take off your shoes and socks on a plane.
Furthermore, I think it is a touch xenophobic
to think that taking your shoes and socks up on a plane
is disgusting, there are many cultures
that find this acceptable, Scandinavian culture,
Ethiopian, and Russian, and Japan.
Furthermore, the Mayo Clinic has said
that being on a plane due to the seat position
and the pressure does make your feet swell,
so it can be painful to keep on your shoes and socks.
Frankly, it is uncomfortable to be on a plane
and so the sacrifice of having to keep your shoes on
for a societal norm that might not even be okay,
I think is not worth it,
and you should definitely be able
to take your shoes and socks off on the plane.
- Okay, now we've got Sandor on the negative Sandor,
you got 60 seconds starting now.
- Okay, three independent reasons
why it's not okay to be barefoot on a plane,
one, this is unsanitary.
Think of how short the time is
from a plane arriving until it's flying off again,
they can't possibly be cleaning it all that thoroughly.
Therefore, you have no idea how many
or what germs you're exposing your foot to.
Conversely, you really have no idea
what germs might be on your own feet
that you're exposing the other people on the plane to,
who might come from other areas or countries
and therefore have different natural immunities.
Second, there needs to be order on planes,
planes are small, stressful places,
it is imperative to take every effort
in order to reduce the amount of unnecessary disturbances
in order to preserve calmness.
People associate order with safety,
allowing barefoottedness lowers the standard
of what is acceptable on a plane,
therefore decreasing probability and increasing panic.
Third, this is not healthy, prolonged periods of inactivity,
exactly like a flight,
can accelerate the formation of blood clots.
Some people even wear compression socks on planes
in order to avoid this.
It is in your own best interest
to always have at least something
assisting your circulation.
Also, being barefoot is generally somewhat hazardous.
So if you do manage to get up,
you might fall hurting and embarrassing yourself.
- All right, next up,
we've got a 30 second rebuttal from Jess.
Are you ready?
- I am.
- All right, 30 seconds on the clock starting now.
- The negative did not refute
that there are no regulations from the FAA,
seeing that you can take off your shoes and socks on a plane
he also did not address the problem
of inherent xenophobia and the resolve.
Furthermore, saying that you could get blood clots
from flying, I think is completely speculative.
Furthermore, you said that order and safety
is at risk if you take your shoes off
on a plane I think that that is hyperbolic at best.
- An amazing job from Jess,
and another SAT word, hyperbolic.
What you know about it?
Okay Sandor you've got 30 seconds for your rebuttal.
Are you ready?
- Yes.
- 30 seconds on the clock starting now.
- Fair responses.
On the point about FAA regulation,
legality does not dictate morality or acceptability,
look at the example of the speed limit,
something which is illegal,
but people find perfectly acceptable to do.
On the point of culture in xenophobia,
name a culture that never wears socks or shoes.
American culture has a lot of places
where we don't wear socks and shoes,
but the norm is still in a common place that you do.
Finally, on the point of feet swelling,
the blood clot source is any hospital,
and taking off socks,
while it might help to reduce swelling,
is not gonna help you with the actual bigger problem,
which is blood clots in your legs.
- Damn lie.
- Okay, now let's hear from our judges.
First up, we've got Alex Robinson.
- Hey, what's up, I'm Alex.
I'm a writer and editor
for thrillist.com, and I will always wear shoes on a plane.
So a couple things I wanted to note here,
Sandor was kind of pandering
to a fear mongering kind of crowd, he brings up germs,
he brings up the fact that you could slip and fall,
and the fact that panic could ensue
from not wearing shoes on an airplane,
a little bit hyperbolic, so I got to give this one to Jess.
- Okay, that's one vote for Jess one vote for hyperbole.
Up next we've got Oneika Raymond.
- Hey, y'all.
I'm Oneika, travel writer, host, and correspondent,
and I may or may not have a foot fetish.
Just kidding.
- Or is she?
Okay, Oneika, what do we think about this debate?
- Okay so here's the thing.
Sandor, you presented really well,
however, you were lacking in facts and statistics,
and I feel as though Jess definitely roped in
the FAA regulations, she talked about the Mayo Clinic,
and so I really feel as though she had a lot of evidence
and her arguments were well supported,
and therefore, I would say that she won this debate.
- Okay let's hear from our last judge, John Lopresto.
- Hey guys, I'm John, I'm an event producer at Thrillist,
and I travel a lot for work.
Personally, always keeping my shoes on on the plane,
because I don't like germs.
But actually for this one,
I'm actually gonna have to give it to Sandor,
you know, you raised a lot of great points,
specifically refuting the points that Jess made.
For example, you talk about FAA regulations,
but this is a public space,
and while there might be regulations
at home for you in your private space,
a plane is a public space, as you perfectly alluded to.
There are societal norms here
that we have to recognize across cultures
and in a public space, I think that's where for me,
you win this one Sandor.
- Okay, so that's two votes for Jess,
and one vote for Sandor, which means Jess,
you're the winner of this debate.
Congratulations.
- Thank you.
- It also means once and for all
that yes, it is okay for you to be barefoot on an airplane,
however, do not sit next to me,
I will make your trip very unpleasant.
Thanks so much for watching,
and we'll see you next time on "Debatable."