no shirt, no shoes, no problem

The unseen authorities in New Zealand always have a far more relaxed attitude than in the States. Not to mention the people.
Shoes, for example. They are always optional. Not just in the normal places - on the beach, or in the house, or even on the sidewalk. They are very optional there. But even in, say, the supermarket. Shoes are optional. And a fairly significant number of people opt to walk around sans shoes.
I saw this a number of times before it even occurred to me something was different. I mentioned this to a Kiwi friend the other day, and he told me his story:
A few years ago he was working in the US and his shoes fell apart. He drove, barefoot, an hour or two to the nearest town (he was working, I think, for a summer camp) to buy a new pair of shoes. The sporting goods store, however, wouldn't let him in because he didn't have any shoes.
This was a possibility he hadn't considered: needing to possess shoes before purchasing shoes.