OMG! Is this an American thing where people don't take their shoes off when they enter someone's home?
I watch a lot of HGTV with open houses and things like that and I can't believe how many people traipse through someone's home without taking their shoes off. That's just rude.
When D's brother was visiting us from Texas, the same thing. He did not take his shoes off. I had to ask him almost every single time he entered our home to please take his shoes off. He's sitting there on the chair in the living room with shoes on. This drives me crazy.
So, Canada vs. U.S.
Do you remove your shoes when you enter a person's home?
I've never taken off my shoes, never been asked, never asked anyone to do the same either. It never came up and never seemed like an issue, at all. I guess it's just where I was raised and have lived.
I think it's a great idea though! I did not do this where I first lived because I had a military house where the floors were nasty ugly tile, so I did not care. If someone asks me too, I would have no problem doing so. What if they are sockless and wearing sandals? Where I've lived in the south this is common to do and sometimes a persons bare foot is just as gross.
I think it would be a good habit to get into!
I'm Canadian and on the same page as NKB. I ALWAYS take my shoes off when entering another home with few exceptions (they have told me not to for whatever reason) and I expect people to obey the same rule in my apartment.
It's a predominantly Canadian thing... I remember an Irishman I knew was scandalized when he had to do it because he had bad athlete's foot and hated stinking up the joint.
It's common in colder climates where people wear boots or can trapse in snow. But yeah, a lot of Americans NEVER would, as shoes are part of the 'outfit'.
I've only ever encountered this with my Asian friends, so I thought it was only an Asian cultural thing. I had no idea Canadians do it, too. I've never met an American who took their shoes off in someone's home, with the exception of winter in Portland, Maine, but that's only because the streets are filthy with sand, salt, dirty ice and snow, garbage and dog poop. But the shoes-off rule was only for winter when the ground was filthy, never any other time of year.
When I lived in London and travelled around Ireland and France and Italy, I never experienced it there, either. So I guess it's mostly an Asian and Canadian thing.
(06-03-2010 01:54 PM)Jo Wrote: [ -> ]But yeah, a lot of Americans NEVER would, as shoes are part of the 'outfit'.
I don't think of shoes as part of the 'outfit.' I'm not sure what that means, I don't have an 'outfit,' I just wear clothes.
In this culture it's just not normal to be so informal and comfortable to take your shoes off in someone else's home unless you're spending the night. It seems far too familiar and presumptuous to take your shoes off in someone else's home during a short visit, like for dinner--unless they ask you to because they have white carpet or it's wet and nasty outside.
Same for England. If I'd taken my shoes off when entering someone else's home in England, it would have been scandalous to presume I could be some comfortable in their home without being family.
We always took out shoes off growing up.
My mom was/is esp. obsessive about it, but I always thought it was because she was an obsessive/compulsive house keeper (she was/is!!). My mom is Canadian and my dad is from New Zealand.
I always ask people whenever I enter their homes if they would like me to remove my shoes. Kind of 50/50 replies (in the US/SoCal-but it Canada and the PNW always a Thank you!)
BTW, we always take our shoes off in our home.
So, y'all just walk into your house and walk around with your shoes on? That's so weird. What if it's raining or snowing outside? Do you take them off then?
Just looking at my BIL sitting in my living room with his shoes on and his legs crossed was so foreign to me. It just seemed rude.
As soon as I walk into someone's house, I take my shoes off. It's a no brainer.
I"m with Jo. I think it's more of a climate thing. My mom wasn't too worried about it unless the ground outside was gross (either snowy, slushy, wet or muddy), or my dad came home with dirty work boots on. We lived in Northern Ohio though and had a variety of outdoor conditions. I had friends whose parents were kind of obsessive about taking shoes off when entering the house though and I remember always taking my shoes off. I now do what Beachbum does - I ask when I go into someone's home if they would like me to take my shoes off (unless my shoes might be icky, then I just automatically take them off).
As for wearing shoes in my own house, I do sometimes. Especially if I'm standing for a long time on a hard floor (like the kitchen). My mom does the same thing. Ever since they put in hardwood floors, she almost always has sneakers on in the house because it's better for her feet and her back if she isn't barefoot on the hard floors.
V.
This reminds of the 50's family shows-Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best, etc.-where the husband is always wearing a suit and the wife is wearing a dress and high heels to do housework because shoes are part of their outfit. I guess there were no slippers back then. Maybe this is where Americans got the idea of not removing shoes in a house. LOL.
As far as taking them off when going to someone's home when it's crappy weather, why do it only in bad weather? You might as well take them off each time. Even in good weather, there's dirt and whatever else on the bottom of everyone's shoes. No exceptions. If someone goes to the trouble keeping their floors clean, why not remove your shoes?
I've only been asked to take my shoes off in someone's house if they were Japanese (or followed Japanese culture). It's a very common thing over there. But everywhere else, nobody ever takes their shoes off upon entering a house. In fact, I feel really awkward if I do take them off at some point. At my own house, I don't wear shoes indoors (except during the summer, when I wear sandals), but it seems...just weird and disrespectful to do it at someone else's house. I mean, shoes are dirty, but so are feet, you know?
I've only heard of the removing shoes before entering a home in Asian culture, primarily Japanese. There is some practicality if you live in a place with snow or rain, but it's almost unheard of in US culture.
So ya'll don't have vacuums in Canada?
Down here we use welcome mats to wipe our feet. Unless you stepped in dog shit on the way to the door, why would you want to take your shoes off? My socked feet get cold without shoes on.
Well, if you lived in PA you'd know that when it snows and you walk in your house the snow in the bottom of your shoe soles doesn't melt right away. You have the usual pollutants that makes the formerly white snow turn grey or even black along busier highway routes. It's very easy to track in lots of dirt because of this and it becomes courtesy to take off your shoes.
I think it's just presumed that shoes are 'outdoor wear' -- that is to say you could have stepped in gum or muck or poo or anything... never mind they are just dusty or dirty. And to put feet with shoes on furniture is considered really taboo.
Since I moved to the farm, yeah, shoes are ALWAYS dusty here. I wouldn't walk around the house with them. I have crocs or slippers for wearing around the house, but a lot of the time I'm barefoot or with socks on.
I can't remember when I traveled to the states... but I'm 99% sure I took my shoes off, because that's just what I do and it's habit. Anastasia, do you remember when I visited you? I am pretty sure I took them off. LOL
We have snow here too and I agree you should remove your shoes/boots when they have snow on them. I just think removing your tennis shoes during the summer is getting a little anal. So is putting plastic on your furniture. Why bother having stuff if you get stressed about it getting a little dirty? Just my opinion.
So you guys all wipe your cat's feet coming out of the litter box? And your dogs' paws? Those seem more likely to bring dirt in(or worse) than my tennis shoes.
I wouldn't put my feet, shoed or not, on somebody's furniture.
What about taking your shoes off getting into somebody's car? Is it ok to get a $20,000 car dirty but not a $2000 carpet? Just trying to follow the logic.
We've had this discussion on this board - someone else must remember it. It had to have been years ago.
We ended up concluding, IIRC, that it was a climate-related phenomena.
In upstate NY this is pretty common among my parents generation, I'd say less so among mine. If you go to someone's house you take off your shoes. In my family we cart our slippers around for wearing when we go visiting. We also have a basket of slippers for guests. Sometimes when you go to someone else's house they'll insist that you DON'T take them off, but in the winter - I mean you pretty much have to! Your boots/shoes are covered with snow and salt and dirt. In winter I will often wear boots and then carry my shoes - I have to do that going to work and other places. It's not like you're going to clump around in winter boots at a party...
(06-03-2010 09:00 PM)Jo Wrote: [ -> ]Anastasia, do you remember when I visited you? I am pretty sure I took them off. LOL
I'm sure you did, but DH and I take off our shoes in our own house and wear slippers or house shoes, so it's no big thing at all. But I don't do it in other people's houses unless they ask, or sometimes if I see a nice light colored carpet I will ask if they want me to remove my shoes. The home owners almost always say no, but sometimes I will still do it.
(06-03-2010 05:06 PM)NKBurlington Wrote: [ -> ]So, y'all just walk into your house and walk around with your shoes on? That's so weird. What if it's raining or snowing outside? Do you take them off then?
I take my shoes off in my own house, but it's kind of rude to assume such a level of familiarity in someone else's house, unless your shoes are downright filthy/muddly/wet.
This isn't an American v. Canadian thing, because I've been inside homes of people in Scotland, England, Ireland (that one was a castle), France, Italy and Mexico, and no one took their shoes off in any of those cultures. I have a friend from Ukraine and when he came into my house on his first visit to the US, he didn't take his shoes off, either.
When I get home I take off my shoes and put on slippers right away, but when people come over, they don't do that--unless they're spending the night and they're in for the evening, unless they're Jo from Canada
It must be a Canadian thing, Cause I never heard of it going on here. At least not in Ohio that's for sure.
Now there are some exceptions to that.
For example My cousin when he got brand new carpeting decades ago. He insisted that everyone take off their shoes before entering his home. And I can understand that, cause it was a light color carpet and it was brand new.
But aside from that, this kind of behavior rarley happens around here.
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/remove-...ering.html
"The benefits of removing shoes are many, including:
Taking off one’s shoes at the door can be a simple celebration of everyday life, as easy as kicking off your shoes at the front door to symbolize leaving behind the harried outer world, then lighting incense and being soothed by the subtle aroma of lavender wafting through the house.
Less dirt and small rocks gouge our floors, gently buffed by bare feet in the warmer seasons and by softly slippered feet in the cooler months.
Bare feet are treated to the comforting sensation of walking on smooth wood, or other flooring, an uncommon experience in itself.
Less time is spent cleaning the floor.
Infants and young children with more sensitive immune systems inhale cleaner indoor air.
A healthier home is ensured because shoes track in lead, pesticides and other pollutants, contaminating carpets and floors, turning a home into a toxic place for pets and young children, especially, who spend more time on the floor.
Shoes in Japan are left in the foyer, and traded for house slippers, with the gesture being both symbolic and a conscious desire to leave behind the outer world by shedding, literally, the first obvious steps—shoes.
Home is seen as a separate, special place, a sanctuary."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6bAy7y_xq0
http://shoesoffatthedoorplease.blogspot.com/
http://www.garmaonhealth.com/2010/05/remove-shoes/
http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2004/286.html
http://www.travelexpertguide.org/forum/A...403175.htm
I don't think it's a climate thing at all. And yes, we do have vacuums in Canada but that's not the point.
Quote:I take my shoes off in my own house, but it's kind of rude to assume such a level of familiarity in someone else's house, unless your shoes are downright filthy/muddly/wet
Really? Interesting. You think it's rude to take your shoes off and I think it's rude to leave them on.
Feet go on furniture all the time. Up on the coffee table or curled up on the sofa.
If it's cold, I put socks on my feet, not shoes.