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Should you take your shoes off at home? - Or at other people's homes?

In other people's homes ....

  • .... one should always take of one's shoes

  • .. one should not be obliged to take off one's shoes

  • ... one should sometimes take off one's shoes

  • don't care

  • don't know


Results are only viewable after voting.
i always remove my shoes.
 
And: Too much attention to 100 percent cleanlyness is not healthy.
It is rather the sign of narrow minds.
 
Are they soooooooooooooo dirty always?
Where do you live?
In some jungle?
No they aren’t always dirty. It is a sign of respect. Like making eye contact when you shake someones hand.
Maybe, the custom, is from living in a cold environment; for much of the year we have snow. And it isn’t nice to track snow into another’s home.
 
No they aren’t always dirty. It is a sign of respect. Like making eye contact when you shake someones hand.
Maybe, the custom, is from living in a cold environment; for much of the year we have snow. And it isn’t nice to track snow into another’s home.
Snow, mud, dirt, rocks, leaves, dog shit, glass, etc. It's also about not destroying the floors in the home, take care of the carpet and you don't have to replace it as often. Don't scratch up wood and linoleum with whatever is stuck to the bottom of your shoe, or have it fall off for someone to step on later.
 
Whenever I visited a friend's house as a kid, their parents would usually say something to the effect of "keep your shoes on, raid the fridge, and call me by my first name". I never said it out loud because they were just trying to be hospitable, but I cannot do those things with a clear conscience.

I never have my shoes on inside my house, so I don't keep them on inside anyone else's. I might track in dirt or grass or something.
 
Let me say it again:
Too much attention to 100 percent cleanlyness is not healthy.
It is rather the sign of narrow minds.
 
Really depends on the company you keep. If your mongol teethed tardo brother is visiting and you know he doesnt have respect and will drag dog shit all through your house you will have to be adamant and tell him to take his shoes off. I believe if you have a carpet you should have indoor only slippers even though Im too lazy to do it and I like my feet to breath. If your friends are respectful and not waltzing through shit and dirt your prolly ok letting them walk around with their shoes. :p If you have kids, yes its a good idea to train them to take their shoes off as soon as they enter the doorway.

Basically play it by ear?
 
Now:
  • Total voters 7
 
I meditated for years. Many of the places where people gather to meditate around here, Boston/Cambridge, are connected to Buddhism. Taking your shoes off is a common request in these places. But here's the/my problem. I lost a portion of the popliteal artery in my left leg. Because of that in combination with multiple shrapnel lacerations, I'm highly susceptible to infections in the lower leg. Cellulitis, etc. So, taking off my shoes and walking around where others are walking around is problematic for me. Usually, after I explain my situation, people understand, but there was one very well known meditation center in Cambridge that refused me.

Bottom line, I'm glad to hear this: "Taking off shoes inside the,sick, you can probably relax"

Just remember:


You could have brought your own cloth booties in your pocket instead of being offended. :)
 
Always take your shoes off at other people's homes, it's polite. At home it's up to you. I don't want to live in a dirty apartment, so I always take off my shoes at home.
You should follow the house rules. Some people will look at you very weirdly if you take your shoes off in their home. While other people have it as a requirement.
 
Let me say it again:
Too much attention to 100 percent cleanlyness is not healthy.
It is rather the sign of narrow minds.
Nobody is advocating for 100% cleanliness. My house is probably never more than 50% perfectly clean at one time unless I have VIPs coming over. If you just show up, you might find week old dust or dishes in the sink or whatever. Life is too busy to keep everything 💯%. However, with everyone coming inside and taking their shoes off before they leave the entranceway, that significantly increases the time between vacuums, and significantly reduces the amount of dirt coming inside, which increases the lifespan of the carpet.


Where do you live? :alien::eek:o_O
In suburban Toronto. We do have snow, rain, lots of leaves, people that don't clean up after their dogs, the occasional broken bottle on the sidewalk, puddles, backyards with dirt and grass, etc.
 
I come from a long succession of 'take your shoes off' family.

Also watch the homeowner too. If the homeowner leaves the shoes on, well, then they are leaving their shoes on. Also I note a distinction between the heavily carpeted north and the tiled FL. Living up north, particularly when seeing carpet, you would presume to take your shoes off. In FL the tile can many times be slippery and the floor is just easier to clean, shoes tend to stay on. Imagine stepping in dog s--- and coming into a home with carpet versus tile. Both aren't pretty sights, but which situation is preferable. S--- on tile much easier to deal with!
 
Is it?
And where is the respect that a host should show for his guest? :)
After they’ve taken their shoes off I offer them a glass of wine.
 
Also watch the homeowner too. If the homeowner leaves the shoes on, well, then they are leaving their shoes on. Also I note a distinction between the heavily carpeted north and the tiled FL. Living up north, particularly when seeing carpet, you would presume to take your shoes off. In FL the tile can many times be slippery and the floor is just easier to clean, shoes tend to stay on. Imagine stepping in dog s--- and coming into a home with carpet versus tile. Both aren't pretty sights, but which situation is preferable. S--- on tile much easier to deal with!
Your point about carpets is a good one. And yes, carpeting is very common in the Northern cold states, even if just 'throw' or 'area' rugs.
 
After they’ve taken their shoes off I offer them a glass of wine.

I offer them more than just one miserly glass of wine - and allow them to keep their shows on. :)
 
If you are paying a visit, how do you go about it?

a) I put on clean shoes, go a few steps to my car, drive there, park the car, go a view steps to my friends' house, and enter the house with clean shoes.
b) I walk for miles and miles through dust and dirt and and swamps and dirt and dust - and then enter the house with terribly dirty shoes.

From most of the comments in this thread it looks like that version b) is the usual version in the US.
Has the US become a Third World country by now?
 
11 voters by now
 
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