Wearing Shoes Inside - The Fuck?

[Randomologist]

I rarely see people wearing shoes inside here in the UK. It's considered unhygienic, and very rude if you're in someone else's house. I don't know of any regional variations of this social norm though, but here you're as likely to be wearing wellies as you are trainers.

 

[BrotherRool]

What if someone has some funky foot fungi or something? Do you really want them strolling around with that on the loose? I like my shoes a lot anyway.

You still have socks. Being barefoot in someone elses house could feel a bit weird to me

 

[MrBenSampson]

I spent a few years living in the US as a kid. I remember hearing one of my dad's friends saying that "you can always tell that it's a Canadian's house when you see all the shoes by the front door."

After moving back home, I mentioned to my friends how Americans often wear their shoes in the house, and they all gave me this face...

Spoiler

 

[karcentric]

What if someone has some funky foot fungi or something? Do you really want them strolling around with that on the loose? I like my shoes a lot anyway.

You still have socks. Being barefoot in someone elses house could feel a bit weird to me

That's true, where I live it's better to leave your shoes on in the off chance something, bites/stings you.

 

[wadark]

In multiple instances of US media, I've seen characters wear shoes inside a private home.It always struck me as odd; Why would one wear it? For comfort? Isn't it more comfortable without the shoes..Or with slippers?
And hey, don't you realize that it is DIRTY? What especially baffles me is that Sheldon and the others in Big Bang Theory wear shoes inside the apartment, even with Sheldon's extreme germ phobia. Isn't this exactly the sort of thing he would crack down on?

So, my question is; Is this really common-place in the US, and why? How do you feel about it?

I don't mean to be snarky, but did you ever consider the possibility that someone comes home from somewhere and just doesn't bother to take off their shoes?

 

[Matt Dellar]

In America, we can do either. Some people are stricter about it than others. I generally take my shoes off when I get home because socks are just more comfortable--I even took the laces out so it wouldn't take as long (I don't do enough walking for the lack of laces to be uncomfortable).

 

[Timberwolf0924]

I have to remind my friends when they come in to take their shoes off. I hate ti when they walk around with them on..

 

[Realitycrash]

In multiple instances of US media, I've seen characters wear shoes inside a private home.It always struck me as odd; Why would one wear it? For comfort? Isn't it more comfortable without the shoes..Or with slippers?
And hey, don't you realize that it is DIRTY? What especially baffles me is that Sheldon and the others in Big Bang Theory wear shoes inside the apartment, even with Sheldon's extreme germ phobia. Isn't this exactly the sort of thing he would crack down on?

So, my question is; Is this really common-place in the US, and why? How do you feel about it?

I don't mean to be snarky, but did you ever consider the possibility that someone comes home from somewhere and just doesn't bother to take off their shoes?

Sure I did, but for me, that would be like coming to work and then removing my pants. It's not appropriate for the situation.

 

[Quaidis]

It depends entirely on the house. If this was a clean house of old people with white carpets and real wooden floors, of course my shoes would go off. If this is the house of a man-cave friend with a wet lab running loose and two kids that have just baked a cake out of mud in the kitchen, my shoes stay on. Similarly, if this is the home of someone with a roach problem or an infestation of cats, my shoes will stay on, and get cleaned with a thorough walk on the grass afterward.

As for my own house, I may go up the stairs with the shoes or boots, but I normally take them off. I get anal when my mother comes to visit and rests her wet shoes on my personally built octagon table, or on my leather couch. The nerve of some parents. I fully believe she is coming down with dementia. I should mount a belt on the wall as a warning.

I even have a separate pair of tennies for when I mow the lawn.

And I wear sandals when I go into the basement. No carpet down there and a cat recently died all over the place. Need to take out the moisture barrier eventually.


Oh, and sometimes I will wear a clean pair of boots around the house if I'm in an art funk and have to inspire. That's a very strange and unique set of circumstances.

 

[SveeNOR]

It might have to do with the climate in the different regions.
Here in Norway, if you're walking through the door with your shoes on you'd on most days be tracking in a shitload of mud or snow.

I second that brother and on a side note, wall to wall carpets are extremely rare in Norway, though generally the houses are built on a much higher (insulation wise) standard in comparison to other European countries, the laws regarding house building in Norway are very specific and very strict since the temperature and climate can variate a lot.

 

[Ushiromiya Battler]

People wear shoes indoors? What? Silly Americans

Anyways, here in Norway wearing shoes indoors is just weird.
I remember my brother tracking into my parents house with his shoes on, never seen mom that angry.
And, well as Jonluw said, climate. We've got snow and mud, don't want that in the house.

 

[wadark]

In multiple instances of US media, I've seen characters wear shoes inside a private home.It always struck me as odd; Why would one wear it? For comfort? Isn't it more comfortable without the shoes..Or with slippers?
And hey, don't you realize that it is DIRTY? What especially baffles me is that Sheldon and the others in Big Bang Theory wear shoes inside the apartment, even with Sheldon's extreme germ phobia. Isn't this exactly the sort of thing he would crack down on?

So, my question is; Is this really common-place in the US, and why? How do you feel about it?

I don't mean to be snarky, but did you ever consider the possibility that someone comes home from somewhere and just doesn't bother to take off their shoes?

Sure I did, but for me, that would be like coming to work and then removing my pants. It's not appropriate for the situation.

I suppose that's true, but its just not something (at least personally) that crosses the mind. My shoes are comfortable enough that I don't even really think about it. I come in, sit down, and I just don't think about it.

I mean, your example is kind of backward because that has you inappropriately removing something, as opposed to inappropriately leaving something on. You have to have a conscious reason and decision for removing your pants at work, though, just like (again, only speaking for me) I need a conscious reason to take my shoes off when I come home. When I was working retail and standing for 8 hours straight, then I had a reason because my feet hurt like hell. But now that I only have to put on my shoes when I run an errand or something, I don't have that conscious reason to remove them anymore.

Plus, I think there's a consideration for who's house it is. Obviously, if its someone else's house, you do what they want you to. But in my house, I don't think its inappropriate because we each set the rules of our own house.

 

[Wereduck]

I almost always wear shoes indoors because I can't be bothered to take them off. Unless they're noticeably uncomfortable heels or something. I only had one friend growing up whose parents made us take off our shoes on the carpet, and I always thought that was totally strict and weird.

Absolutely this.
I was outside before and I'll be going back outside soon enough. As long as my shoes are comfortable why would I take them off?

 

[Skratt]

We have carpet and don't want dirt stains on the carpet. Germs? Whatever. If you fear germs from your shoes, you're already fucked.

That being said, while most people take off their shoes when they walk through the house, we have some older generation with those special shoes they can't easily walk around without them on, so they get to keep them on.

 

[frizzlebyte]

At least with my experience its kinda odd to take off your shoes in someones house unless you have been there a lot.

Yeah, same thing here. I live in the southern USA (Texas), and the whole taking your shoes off in someone's house is something you do when you are family, or really good friends. Otherwise, it is considered pretty presumptuous to be getting all comfortable when you are a guest in someone's house.

Then again, the South tends to put a lot of emphasis on politeness and respect, sometimes to the point of being silly about it. So, maybe we're the weird ones.

 

[matrix3509]

Dude, its the fucking floor. The floor is where dirt goes. There is ALWAYS dirt on the floor no matter how clean you think it is. If it gets too dirty for your gentle sensibilities, well, thats what fucking vacuum cleaners are for. Unless you are literally eating your food directly off the floor, what the fuck is the big deal?

Seriously do you live in some alternate universe where all the myriad ways to avoid/clean up dirt don't exist. Here is a way, just off the top of my head: chairs.

Jesus tap-dancing Christ, and people say Americans have superiority complexes.

 

[thiosk]

Its paid product placement, baby. Those sick kicks don't pay for themselves.

 

[Playful Pony]

Shoes inside is NOT very common in Norway. I don't wear them inside, I don't know anyone that does. My friends from other places like Netherlands also dont wear shoes inside. As far as I know it's not common to keep shoes on inside, but I guess in other parts of the world where I don't have friends it is =3. Feel free to be my friend, I have lots to say and too few "jsut talky" friends online to be annoying to Oo. Boy that sounded lonely, I'm really not... I just like talking about random junk, and not all of my friends are into that as much as me...

 

[Extasii]

I can barely be asked to put socks on, even on a trip to the mailbox.
Hell, unless I'm actually planning to step outside the car, I'll drive barefoot!

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

Yeah, well, it's only really a proper 'culture' thing when certain cultures (say, Japanese, Muslim, ...) strictly forbid it and make a big drama about it.

I myself am a decidedly barefoot person. I enjoy wearing no shoes at home, in the garden, even on walkies with them dogs. I think barefoot rules. So, should I cut off my feet each time I enter my home? I think not.

If you're a reasonably clean and not too scruffy kinda person, you'll find there's nothing wrong with entering people's homes when they don't go mental about it. Other way around, I don't force anyone to take off or keep on their shoes. Sometimes, on special or, let's say 'specific' occasions I suggest people keep their shoes on or everybody takes their shoes off. As a rule of thumb, everyone is responsible for their own ass, own feet and own shoes. If someone were to bring some dog turd patina on their shoes and plasters it all over my home, I'd go pretty mental. Because they're careless hippie bastards, and there's little excuse for that.

Other than that - nah. I prefer a bit of dirt to allergies and striving for a germ-free, sterile environment. We're just not cut out for those, they make us sick and kill us.