(06-13-2010 10:52 AM)PrairieGirl Wrote: [ -> ]Mainly, being barefoot is a bad idea in the south, because southern grasses are MEAN AS HELL! How fondly I remember the soft grasses of central Illinois! -- but the best that can be said about the BEST southern lawn is that it doesn't hurt you.
Thread drift here, but I know exactly what you are saying. I miss the soft grass too. I'm originally from Southern Illinois, and when we moved to Texas, I couldn't believe how nasty the grass is here. We always had either zoysia or some other type that was really fine, almost like kitten fur. Here, when grass can even grow on a consistent basis, it's almost always St. Augustine, which is sharper. And because it doesn't rain much, the grass always feels crunchier. I went barefoot often as a child, but I refuse to do it here.
LOL - I'm watching Property Virgins and a couple is walking through a home. The floors are beautiful. She says to her husband, "I will never allow high heels on these floors. They are too nice". Guess what she was wearing while walking through the house?
I saw an ad for a carpet cleaner. The carpet was white and filthy! While admiring the nice clean carpet, they were wearing shoes. WTF? Of course your carpet is going to get dirty if you wear shoes you idiots.
NKB, it's nice to see how your feelings about shoes and carpeting dovetail perfectly!
Growing up, it was a 'no shoes allowed in the house', home. My mom was fanatical about vacuuming, though. She even use to...get this.....rake the rug (some indoor plastic rake) to fluff up the carpet!
Talk about OCD cleaning! (I feel almost all of her OCD cleaning stemmed from my dad always accusing her of sitting on her ass....so she cleaned the house, the garage and did non-stop yard care/gardening to justify her time to my dad).<----a totally new thread.
I thought she was crazy, but after 25-30 years, the carpets still look brand new!
NKB, question: In Canada, when maintenance or workpeople come to your home do they take off their shoes, too? Like the plumbers, painters, handymen, people who fix boilers or replace hot water heaters, electricians, movers? The reason I ask is I had an electrician come last week, and I was thinking about his shoes all over my house, in my bathroom, etc. (he was here to fix a faulty light fixture in the bathroom), and I was thinking about other people like him who come to the house and of course they don't remove their shoes, like the termite guy, the guy who installed the water filter, the guy who fixed my fridge, the water heater guy who came to replace the water heater, and the movers.
Do furniture movers and handymen remove their shoes in Canada?
(08-25-2010 03:23 PM)anastasia Wrote: [ -> ]NKB, question: In Canada, when maintenance or workpeople come to your home do they take off their shoes, too? Like the plumbers, painters, handymen, people who fix boilers or replace hot water heaters, electricians, movers? The reason I ask is I had an electrician come last week, and I was thinking about his shoes all over my house, in my bathroom, etc. (he was here to fix a faulty light fixture in the bathroom), and I was thinking about other people like him who come to the house and of course they don't remove their shoes, like the termite guy, the guy who installed the water filter, the guy who fixed my fridge, the water heater guy who came to replace the water heater, and the movers.
Do furniture movers and handymen remove their shoes in Canada?
Anastasia, I'll jump in, lol.
I bought those disposable shoe covers from a Medical supply store for the maintenance & workers who enter my house. I can't believe companies don't give them to the workers prior to entering homes! Actually, some do, but most do not. It makes sense to me.
Some boots that I have seen are totally disgusting. Not to mention...what have they been walking in/on prior to entering
my home? Spit, accidentally walked through dog shit- then wiping their grimy boots half-assed on the grass, stomped out their cancer sticks, etc....
Ugh. I have never had a worker complain or give me an attitude.
bb - LOVE that idea!! That's fantastic.
I can't speak to furniture movers but maintenance people usually take their shoes off without me having to ask. The only people I don't ask to remove shoes are the ones who are going directly into the basement. We have a side door which leads to the basement.
Besides, if one or two furniture movers or other workers don't remove their shoes, I'm not going cry. It's the regular visitors such as family and friends that always take their shoes off.
I usually find that they take their shoes off when they come over unless I tell them not to (and often I tell them not to worry about it because, like NKB said, it's not a frequent issue).
Someone recently fixed my furnace and had brought rolls of carpet (thin but very sturdy stuff) to lay along his path, as he went back and forth to his van a lot. It's also slightly a safety issue, as he had reinforced boots, so the carpet was a smart idea.
I think it's a total safety issue for workers to be without shoes. If he injures himself in your house because he didn't have shoes on, I think your insurance might have to pay.
I like BB's idea of shoe covers.
Mark has a good point -- many tradespersons wear steel-toes shoes or other safety-type footwear, and their insurance would not cover them in your house if they remove shoes. Better check before demanding shoe removal! -- carpet cleaning is cheaper than compensating someone for a smashed toe.
I don't think anyone demands shoe removal! It's just that it's socially expected. I have never asked anyone to remove their shoes, and I would only do so in future if someone had really mucky shoes and was planning on keeping them on. If a worker needs to keep their shoes on then they will have arranged for an alternative (like I mentioned with the guy who brought the carpeting).
I recently moved and the movers did not remove their shoes as they trapsed in and out of the house. There are no rugs, so it wasn't too bad, plus I wouldnt' have expected them to with the amount of in-and-outs. Luckily it was dry that day.
The following day was rainy and mucky and the guy came to deliver the fridge and stove. He had a dolly and it was REALLY mucky and he dragged a lot of mud into the house. I remember he did take his shoes off at the door, which is kind of funny when you think about it, but that is what Canadians typically do. LOL My mom was following him around with a damp mop, cleaning up the muck. There was another problem in that his truck got stuck in the mud outside (he'd parked half on the front lawn) and he was REALLY aplogetic, as I had to call him a tow truck.
I had a guy come by the other to quote on my bathroom. He was wearing work boots. He removed that at the door. I didn't have to ask.
We Canadians are so polite, aren't we?
polite? I wouldn't call it polite exactly, maybe polite for your culture, but to insinuate that people who do not take their shoes off before entering a home are rude is rather rude in it self. Just because most Americans and some other cultures don't remove their shoes doesn't make it rude. It is normal for their culture, and if someone were to take their shoes off and enter their home, they would consider it rude.
Personally, I think it is rude not to take your shoes off but that's the way I was brought up.
I would never, ever wear my shoes in your house. IMO, it is rude to do so.
yes, and if you came in my house and removed your shoes, I would consider it rude, because that is how I was brought up. different strokes for different folks. There is no right or wrong here, it is what your culture dictates and how you were raised that makes it right or wrong for your particular situation. If I were to visit your home, I would have no problem taking my shoes off, since it is your home, your rules, and your way of life, I would respect that. I would just ask for the same amount of respect if you were to enter my home.
I agree with Arkved. It's also impolite to not wear a veil if you are female in parts of Turkey or Saudi Arabia. It's not rude if you are not in those places.
They are just cultural differences. Like belching in Japan, or whatever that one is. It means you are full and your host did his job in feeding you until you are full.
Exactly, Jo. I would never go to those kinds of places where I would be expected to do something I considered sexist against myself. I wouldn't go and then not do it, I just wouldn't go. BJ was forced to go in the first Gulf War, but she then refused to do it (Wear hijab, etc. They had a lot of "rules" for military women she wouldn't let them enforce), and cited the EOT regulations. They then made sure she stayed on military installations, so she didn't have to. She didn't go off the post, sightseeing or anything, and she made sure to spend no money that would go into their economy. She also told them they could send her back to the US, but she simply would not obey those orders, which are illegal. So because she had the presence to refuse, she didn't have to. And she'd already been promoted as much as she was going to be, so she lost nothing except stress.