People Who Make You Take Your Shoes Off Before Entering Their House: Anal-retentive, dictatorial jerkoff neat-freaks or not.

Only my Indian friend makes me do this. I oblige without protest chaling it up to Hindu Tradition, maybe I'm wrong.

chalking

My mom makes everyone do this because she has very light colored carpet. It's totally lame, but we all do it anyway.

Unless it's winter and very snowy/muddy out, I'd prefer that you keep your shoes on in my house, thankyouverymuch.

Then again, I have hardwood floors.

Cultural tradition gets a pass -- I'll give ya that. But I'm talking about people who do it because they want to keep their hardwood floors immaculate or because they're paranoid of "street germs".

grow up

What if they just don't want to clean up after your scummy ass?

Okay, when you sand and varnish your own hardwood floors, you can complain about other people not wanting to scratch theirs. Street germs, on the other hand, are why we have immune systems.

it helps people relax to go barefoot

Wanna keep your floors clean and be wicked anal about it? Fine -- DON'T HAVE COMPANY OVER THEN!

it helps people relax to go barefoot

Not if they're forcibly made to do so.

Alex just hates taking his shoes off b/c a crusty old punk in bare feet is less intimidating. And probably has gross feet, too.

Toes aren't metal, dude.

Alex in NYC isn't a punk

My first rental was a house with beige carpet. My roomie had a friend over to visit who had motor oil on his shoes, which he tracked everywhere. She didn't ask him to take off his shoes because she "didn't want to make him feel bad." The stains never came out.

If you put beige carpet in your house, you are foolish, but it's an understandable request to ask people to remove their shoes.

sometimes these people live above an apartment with a young child and don't want to keep him awake with shoe noises especially if there ends up being a dance party, hypothetically.

RJG, I'm surprised you can read the computer screen through your giant, glamorous women's sunglasses. Aren't they supposed to block harmful rays?

I've never claimed to be a punk. RJG -- YOU grow up.

If someone does this to me, I never visit them again. I'm not kidding.

I do this out of fear that the large, nice-looking, but cheaply woven wool area rug that covers most of my living room floor will be a threadbare mess before the year is out. With this rug, the least bit of friction from shoes causes little clumps of woolly fuzz to get pulled up. So TAKE THOSE SHOES OFF AND GET COMFY or ELSE.

Anyone here ever lived with their landlord/landlady?

I was defending you, Alex in NYC, and Laurel so what about my giant, glamourous women's sunglasses?

It's like when people make you take them off speakerphone.

I just hang up.

I suppose it is kind of annoying, but I don't want to have to replace this rug right away, okay? Also the rug is necessary -- the room has a polished concrete floor which is cool but very stark, not to mention COLD in winter. So.

The cold floor wouldn't matter if you wore shoes though, so there's another solution.

Alex in NYC isn't a punk

-- RJG, Friday, September 7, 2007 11:57 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

nor is he a crusty.

i don't mind taking my shoes off if someone wants me too, big whoop. methinks alex in nyc has something to hide by opposing such a non-issue, namely, HIS FEET STANK WOO BOY YOU BETTA GET SOME DOCTOR SCHOLLS ON THEM DOGGIES.

OBVIOUSLY HE IS NOT GELLIN'. HONORING THE FIRE, SURE, BUT NOT GELLIN'.

I suppose it is kind of annoying, but I don't want to have to replace this rug right away, okay? Also the rug is necessary -- the room has a polished concrete floor which is cool but very stark, not to mention COLD in winter. So.

-- xero, Saturday, 8 September 2007 00:08 (2 minutes ago) Link

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The cold floor wouldn't matter if you wore shoes though, so there's another solution.

-- John Justen, Saturday, 8 September 2007 00:09 (8 seconds ago) Link

But your shoes could scuff up the concrete floor...Well, that's what my mom always complains about. We have concrete floors, but you can heat them!! It's crazy.

my dad used to make us do this at home. i don't think that he was being anal-retentive, that was just the way that he had been raised and he was continuing the tradition as it were.

i still do so myself, but i really couldn't care less if my guests do so. in fact, i kind of hope that they don't -- they aren't family after all.

But your shoes could scuff up the concrete floor...Well, that's what my mom always complains about. We have concrete floors, but you can heat them!! It's crazy.

-- Aja, Saturday, September 8, 2007 12:13 AM (1 minute ago)

what kind of supershoes do you wear?

(a-wa) O kodwa u zo-nge li-sa namhlange
(a-wa a-wa) Si-bona kwenze ka kanjani
(a-wa a-wa) Amanto mbazane ayeza
She's a rich girl
She don't try to hide it
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes

He's a poor boy
Empty as a pocket
Empty as a pocket with nothing to lose
Sing Ta na na
Ta na na na
She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes

People say she's crazy
She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Well that's one way to lose these
Walking blues
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes

She was physically forgotten
Then she slipped into my pocket
With my car keys
She said you've taken me for granted
Because I please you
Wearing these diamonds

And I could say Oo oo oo
As if everybody knows
What I'm talking about
As if everybody would know
Exactly what I was talking about
Talking about diamonds on the soles of her shoes

She makes the sign of a teaspoon
He makes the sign of a wave
The poor boy changes clothes
And puts on after-shave
To compensate for his ordinary shoes

And she said honey take me dancing
But they ended up by sleeping
In a doorway
By the bodegas and the lights on
Upper Broadway
Wearing diamonds on the soles of their shoes

And I could say Oo oo oo
As if everybody here would know
What I was talking about
I mean everybody here would know exactly
What I was talking about
Talking about diamonds

People say I'm crazy
I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes
Well that's one way to lose
These walking blues
Diamonds on the soles of our shoes

nerd.

xposts: Yeah, but I'm the main user of this room, and most of the time I'm shoeless at home because it's more comfortable. Also the concrete floor and the room both look much too stark without the rug; with it, the room just about qualifies as "austere." So the rug has to be there, and shoes are requested to be removed.

*obligatory Big Lebowski joke*

what kind of supershoes do you wear?

I was going to say. This polished concrete floor is impervious to any known footwear.

what kind of supershoes do you wear?

-- John Justen, Saturday, September 8, 2007 12:15 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Link

Ah..I think my mom must be reffering to my Nike Air Forces because they have a thick black sole. Adds 2 inches to my height!!

Those would have gotten you kicked out of gym class for sure.

The Air Forces? No...my Doc Martens would...

I sympathize with Alex! Until June when I replaced it with lovely Chinese porcelain tile, I had an awful, tan, shag wall-to-wall rug. I used to get so paranoid about people visiting my apartment in dirty shoes that I'd kindly request them to leave their shoes by the door. I'd friends who didn't even have to be told -- they'd ask if it was okay to take them off.

uh, that wasn't alex's gripe, dude.

No -- I sympathize with how fuckin' ridiculous it sounds!

must be rough. i dunno, someone wants me to take my shoes off, it ain't no biggie.

Nah whatever. But taking yr shoes off is...undignified, isn't it? I can see how people object. Esp if you dressed up for a party or something and shoes are part of yr outfit. Otherwise calm down, it's less wear and tear on everything.

Jeez -- I step away for some dinner and this thread takes off.

methinks alex in nyc has something to hide by opposing such a non-issue

Not really. I mean, make no mistake: MY FEET DO STINK LIKE DEATH ITSELF, but that's not the issue. I just think it's rather a presumptuous imposition to make one's guests take their footwear off before they're allowed into someone's home. One of my very best friends in the world insists on it. He's had fuckin' DINNER PARTIES, where people show up in their best goddamn duds (footwear included), and still demands that everybody de-sole themselves. Tell a woman who has spent forty minutes picking out the very right shoes to match her ensemble that she's going to have to rough it without them, and I guarantee you a pouty face.

Hell, tell a man that.

Yeah, that's the exact point where I take offense -- if yr floors are so fragile, then don't ask people to attend anything where they might have to care what they look like. For Battlestar Galactica watching, I don't care. For cocktail party? I care A LOT.

Amusingly, I used to read a home design blog where there was a GIANT flamey argument about this, and people got really het up (still tame by ILX standards, but then what isn't?). People were all like "I WILL GIVE MY GUESTS INDIVIDUAL PAIRS OF SLIPPERS MADE OF ALL-NATURAL MATERIALS" like their apartments were some kind of hotel or something. I dunno, I demand at least a bathrobe.

Tell a woman who has spent forty minutes picking out the very right shoes to match her ensemble that she's going to have to rough it without them, and I guarantee you a pouty face.

whoa.

NOOOO NOT THE POUTY FACE AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The only one I can kinda ken is stiletto heels on wood floors.

I like "rough it," like the floors are made of rocks and sharp twigs or something.

MY FEET DO STINK LIKE DEATH ITSELF

You should use that to combat Controversial Smelly Cleaning Lady.

(while we're reminiscing about "classic" ilx threads: How Do You Discreetly & Politely Tell Someone that their Underarm Deodorant (or, more likely, their complete lack thereof) is in Swift Need of a Reappraisal?)

omg I thought aldo vs AinNYC was the main event there but I forgot about TOMBOT up and at 'em in lower case.

How Do You Discreetly & Politely Tell Someone That Their Foot Hygiene Is In Swift Need of a Reappraisal?

...No, I don't get into that with visitors. I require shoe removal, but I keep my foot/sock reactions to myself.

Not that it has been an issue.

Taxi drivers with smelly feet: beyond dud - and I don't give a shit what they earn.

I had no idea this wasn't a common thing! At most of my friends' houses we take our shoes off; there's no coercion involved, and no one has to be asked, it's just an understood practice.

Taxi drivers with smelly feet: beyond dud - and I don't give a shit what they earn.

-- onimo, Saturday, September 8, 2007 1:15 AM (8 seconds ago) Bookmark Link

that's what the partition's for, dude.

Ah, good times. I forgot about that thread. Whatever. She fuckin' stank like the grave. Je regret rien.

I feel really weird wearing shoes inside the house. Sometimes I go over to someone's house and automatically take off my shoes and my friend looks at me like I'm crazy and then I have to slowly put my shoes back on.

For normal day to day I make people take off their shoes in the house, but for parties people can leave them on. I never have shoes on, and I always manage to step on the one rock or piece of glass that managed to make it inside. But I also clean my floors the crazy ass old lady way, wiping it by hand with a rag.

Oh, I am the complete opposite. I keep my shoes on pretty much until right before I decide to fall asleep. Doesn't matter if it's my house or my cousins'...only at my Dad and Step-Mom's because she will let me know if I still have my shoes on. haha.

just the other week i saw a seinfeld fixating on this.

i'll admit, non-asians asking you to do this is a bit pretentious, but alex in nyc has just basically just become george costanza's dad

i haven't read this thread because I'm drunk but I appreciate people who take their shoes off when they enter my house. I don't demand it but you know what? k\Keeping your house clean of sidewalk filth isn't a bad thing.

now i've read it

Horsehoe otm. I live on the top floor of an apartment that has wood floors. the people downstairs don't want clomping y becuase they look interested in sleep

thanks for contributing to the thread before reading it

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:JY2CnDoHvkciUM:http://www.adliterate.com/archives/glasshousesPIC.jpg

Ask me to take my shoes off, do ya?

TAKE THIS!

http://www.kkbox.com.tw/funky/album/71290.jpg

sanskrit otm

Contributing to a thread like this before you've studied it is really asking for trouble.

alex dude you forgot the "ne."

I did. I was always a shitty French student.

Over here it's not at all common to wear shoes in homes, except for dinner parties &c where you've dressed up. It seems strange to me that anyone should be wandering around in their apartment wearing shoes though. I mean, the best part of the day is coming home and kicking off those bastards.
That being said, I wouldn't care if someone did want to wear their shoes in, as long as they haven't been out burning down churches and drag soot and ashes in with them.

are you Tuomas' dad?

Aren't we all?

Over here it's not at all common to wear shoes in homes

Is it common anywhere other than the US? People in upstate NY seem to think it's some Asian tradition to take your shoes off when you enter someone's house but AFAICT it's the norm even 10 minutes away in Canada.

Hm, a quick Internet search seems to strongly suggest that there is in fact a sharp cultural difference between Canada and the US with regards to this issue. Interestingly, Australians seem to take the American side.

(I mean, WTF, did it not occur to 300 million people that, like, you walk on dirt and worse all day and getting this stuff on your carpets might not be ideal?)

Weird. I've taken it for granted that you're supposed to take your shoes off before walking around the house.

I thought even white people who are not necessarily neat but live in cosmopolitan areas of North America, meaning there's a significant Pacific Asian population, usually take off their shoes at the door.

My mum thought one of school friends was a total barbarian white trash skank because not only did she wear shoes into our house, she actually set them on the couch before putting them on her feet.

We usually take our shoes off in the house and leave them by the door. When people come to visit, they should do whatever they're comfortable with, shoes off or on. However, it did upset me when an overnight visitor put bare feet on both the coffee table and the sofa. That crossed a line I didn't know I had drawn.

You never wear your shoes indoors in Hawaii. The cable guy kicks his off when he gets to the door, even if you tell him its ok.

what if people used moist asswipes to clean the bottom of their soles before entering your house, would that make ya happy?

no it wouldn't

i didnt read this thread but heres how to house punk rock amirite Alex

http://files.myopera.com/sanshan/blog/she%20beat%20them%20all%20soundly.jpg

thanks for contributing to the thread before reading it

-- sanskrit, Friday, September 7, 2007 10:02 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

if people used moist asswipes to clean the bottom of their soles before entering my house, i'd be happy

-- brownie, Friday, September 7, 2007 10:00 PM (Yesterday)

I can top yall with some anal retentiveness. My grandparents would already start rubbing their shoes on the carpet in the elevator. Once approaching the door, they would grab the cloth that was there and clean their shoes. Inside? They would of course, like everyone else, take their shoes off. You can understand that once they moved, the carpet of said flat was still as immaculately off-white as before.

I would never insist my friends to take off their shoes. But I would love to have to remember doing it myself, then I would have much less dirt. "They" claim about 70 procent of dirt comes from *carrying* dirt inside with your shoes.

alex dude you forgot the "ne."

Not if he's using colloquial french. They sometimes drop the ne if I'm not mistaken.

Hm, a quick Internet search seems to strongly suggest that there is in fact a sharp cultural difference between Canada and the US with regards to this issue.

Yeah, the Canadians I know all take their shoes off indoors too. My problem is that I don't like walking around barefoot, but the solution is just to have an array of flip flops and slippers inside the door.

I quite like removing my shoes in someone's house, if I'm made to feel comfortable about it. But I do remember being asked to take my shoes off before entering a house in Boston once, and was made to stand in the front porch while I did it while the "host" stood between us and the main door to the house to make sure nobody made a bolt for the interior while still shod. Being made to take your shoes off before your coat seems wrong.

I'm not sure if it's so common for non-family members to take off their shoes here. I have never been asked (aside from my k-razy grandparents).

I politely take my shoes off and commence with the good times. I do this a few times, and after a while develop a strange subconscious aversion to hanging out at their house and start making excuses to go other places.

Can't blame them for not wanting my filthy shoes all over their floor, but I don't have to like it.

a lot of modern apartments have that laminate floor stuff that really makes a loud noise for the people downstairs

I fucking hate that laminate floor stuff. It is my father's mission in life to cover every indoor surface he finds with the cheapest laminate flooring he can find, and now my parents' house looks like one big cheaply decorated waiting room.

Shoes on inside is a big no-no in Norway. We smell good though.

http://thecia.com.au/reviews/a/images/asterix-and-the-vikings-8.jpg

http://www.hapahale.com/photos/uncategorized/locals_onlybanana_patch_studiotilev02.jpg

http://www.aloha2go.com/catalog/catalog-pics/remove-shoe-notakemine.JPG

http://bananapatchstudio.com/images/4tiles/removeshoes/4M109.jpg

I have to say I find white, middle-class people who do this VERY ANAL INDEED unless there is a direct correlation between outside weather and need to remove shoes. Every Indian/diaspora/Muslim person I have ever known comes from a family home where you trip over a vast pile of shoes at the door, because everyone removes them.

my dad and his wife make us do this. they're house is a hotel of sorts (cross between b&b and "retreat center") so cleanliness is premium there. I actually don't mind cuz we spend a lot of time on their (clean) floor. They have a bzillion of those big physio balls everywhere. They're very new-agey and it becomes irresistible to start doing stretches and contact improv on the floor. Lots of fluffy cushions too and a big round white rug. we usually go there in the winter when it's muddy and slushy, so it makes sense.

their

i always take my shoes off!
Sometimes I go over to someone's house and automatically take off my shoes and my friend looks at me like I'm crazy and then I have to slowly put my shoes back on.
this has totally happened to me.
but yeah, shoes off unless it's at a party, obv, as pointed out previously on this thread. but sometimes even then, everyone takes their shoes off. and when you're just hanging out at people's houses, i find it way more comfortable to just not be wearing shoes. a friend of mine, who is not originally canadian, tends to keep his on and everyone i know is like 'um, dude, take yr shoes off, stay a while' - he doesn't even think it's a thing

yeah i am canadian
i think a lot of it is about the weather. if you live with crazy winter for 6+ months, you just get used to taking your shoes off once inside. and i grew up in vancouver, where it's always raining, so you take your shoes off b/c they're wet. sometimes people have slippers for you! sometimes i bring my own slippers. or 'indoor shoes' (heels) if it's a more formal party in the wintertime.

The weather's the same in upstate NY! Worse than BC, surely. But this custom changes as dramatically as the vowel sounds the moment you cross the border.

weird

I hate it. Makes me feel like a kid. 'Sit in the corner and don't touch ANYTHING'. If the person is that uptight about dirt/scuffmarks/whatever, what else are they going to flip out about, you know?

Shoes off = no fun.

People from Russia and nearby places do this too (and walk around the house in slippers kept by the door, generally with a couple extra pairs for guests). I actually like the lack of shoes because it generally implies getting to walk around in a very clean house. When I wear my shoes at home it's protective, like there are too many people and animals to not expect spills and dirt. I do not like being told to put on other people's slippers, though.

Other people's slippers are ick. That enters into control freak territory.
Leave me to my socks.

The only house I'll happily remove my shoes before entering is an inflatable bouncy house. Maybe that's the problem. Removing shoes as a child generally meant fun was to follow...sadly, as a grown up, tis not to be.

The reason for forcing their slippers on you is ostensibly for your own good - "you could get PNEUMONIA and DIE, the floors are COLD!" - but still...ugh. My socks will protect me, thanks.

I like people taking their shoes off in my house. Comes from growing up in Scandinavia.

Shoes off = no fun.

I don't know. As far as I'm concerned, shoes off=licence to put feet up on sofa.

OTM also to use blanket on sofa while watching TV = instant-snugglez-squeeee-time

"you could get PNEUMONIA and DIE, the floors are COLD!"

Yeah and walking with wet hair in the wind will result in a cold the next day. roffle.

Isn't there a whole complicated etiquette here? If you're at someone's house for a party, shouldn't you keep your shoes on, shoe-wearing making the whole thing more formal? Shoes off = personal visit with friends or family, I wouldn't think of walking around in socks or barefoot or even slippers at a party.

I realize that some cultures ask that you take your shoes off and I am happy to do that but it is always clear (Asians, etc.) when that is expected.

depends on how good their carpets are. if it's not clean and plush as fuck they can gtfo

Tell a woman who has spent forty minutes picking out the very right shoes to match her ensemble that she's going to have to rough it without them, and I guarantee you a pouty face.

Anal-retentive, dictatorial jerkoff fashion-freak, or not?

don't wear shoes inside your homes, people

^this. Wearing shoes inside your home is insane. However, I don't make guests take them off, if it's for an occasion or something. I just vacuum like hell afterward.

This has been driving me bananas ever since I moved to Canada.

Some friends got married at a lovely lodge up in the mountains of Colorado. It was a small affair, just immediate family and a few close friends. All the photos of everyone in front of the fireplace in their wedding finery now showcase my Canadian husband in his stocking feet. Dorkiest thing ever.

what kind of stockings were they?

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ6Spi9fqw17E95dKTFXndGsxUQok1IQOKWryRgSFPS76ADlSc&t=1&usg=__A_-qJKjobix2m9kZcB6kX8nBrGI=

now, i have to say i am in favor of that

Wearing sneakers instead of just socks or barefoot in a house feels so right. Even better if you have a dedicated pair

I can easily see how many cultures came to regard shoes as carriers of the worst, most disgusting filth. In India cobblers were very lo caste because they handled shoes all day. But in nations where there are no longer mud streets filled with animal manure or worse this demand for shoeless guests mainly reflects a desire to keep their rugs clean. That's nice, but it is not how their respective duties as hosts and guests ought to play out.

In a city (nyc in my case) I think it’s insane to keep shoes on in the house. It’s horrifying out there. You’re going to walk on subway platforms and then your living room? The beginning of this thread is bonkers.

xp this doesn’t make sense in context of your average city, the streets are absolutely filthy. I don’t even understand wanting to wear shoes in the house, I would much rather be comfortable.

This thread is frankly baffling and disgusting when viewed from Quebec (and, I suspect, most of Canada).

I am generally a shoe taker-offer, though I have some friends who have dogs where they warn me not to take my shoes off or the dog will probably destroy them. but that's maybe one house.

I love free toe-ing it

Imagine not taking your shoes off when visiting someone's place after trudging through this:

https://montrealstreetfrench.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/montreal-slush-offqc.jpg

in Florida we keep ar shoes on to kill the roaches in the house

I'm cool with that.

my mother won't allow shoes on in the house. she turns into Belial if you do

for dealing with roaches it's better to have shoes off so they can be quickly picked up and deployed in the seconds before the roach disappears behind a shelf and you have to set up a vigil instead of going to bed.

People spit and snot into the streets every day, and even rural life s full of actual dirt and parasites. From a hygiene perspective, seems baffling why anyone would ever actively want to track that into their homes. Have American attitudes on this shifted at all during Covid?

shoes are prisons

-Scott Stapp

where i come from leaving yr shoes on means yr an imperialist

I get disturbed and pulled right out of the story when I see Kramer putting his sneakers on Jerry's couch. I'm supposed to believe that Jerry's character would be OK with this? And yet he says nothing. If I were Jerry I'd ask Kramer to get off the couch immediately ...so that he could help me carry it to the curb.

George would take it

Lotta dilettantes itt

I don't care about this either way nearly as much as I did 10 years ago.

i don't really like walking around barefoot or in socks round my house. chances are i'll either stub my toe on something or step in a bit of wet from where i did the washing up or got out the shower, and i generally feel a bit sloppy standing around in my socks. that said, people are correct that outdoor shoes indoors isn't exactly hygienic, so i've taken to wearing a pair of indoor slippers - still a bit sloppy, but keeps my feet warm and dry.