Wearing Shoes Inside - The Fuck?

[DonTsetsi]

It's one of the things I find really weird in Americans. Maybe it's because you drive everywhere.

 

[amadhatter]

well, I for one don't want any motherfuckers scuffing up my hardwood floors with their shoes. People can go barefoot if they want to, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Emo-Hawk]

New carpets I understand but other than that it is odd, I live in England and it varies from house to house, my parents prefer shoes off inside, but I'll keep them on if I'm going back out within the next hour or sometimes two. We just had new carpet down on our stairs and landing so no shoes up stairs any more. =/

But some people just don't give a damn, I'm neither for or against if my friends ask I'll say please as I have no idea where their feet have been...

 

[xdiesp]

I wouldn't be surprised if Sweden had borderline weird habits, it's not like they've ever been that connected to the rest of the western world.

That aside, it seems to me that you're mixing up two behaviours: taking off shoes when you're comfortably at your home, and taking shoes when you are inside a private household. The first is possible, indeed you can put on slippers or be barefoot whenever you like at your own home. But when inside someone else's house, or in formal occasions, nobody in their right minds would present themselves to guests wearing socks and no shoes.

Also, you are supposed to clean your goddamn shoes before entering the door jeez.

 

[SilverUchiha]

I'm American and I hate shoes in general. If I could just wear slippers all the time, I probably would. Yeah, I get baffled by people wearing shoes inside all the time too, but to each their own.

 

[UberNoodle]

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 fobia. 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'm pretty sure it's commonplace in most Western nations. We're not Japanese, and we don't have a ritualistic point of view on wearing shoes indoors.

Yeah, it's not ritualistic. It's about cleanliness and that many people sit on the floor and also sleep on the floor. If there is tatami in place, then it is particularly important not to wear shoes. Japanese people will wear slippers and even slippers specifically for the toilet and bathroom. Cleanliness is indeed next to godliness, and I agree (if 'god' is just a metaphor). The amount of crap tracked through a house is often invisible until a week has passed and you can feel it under your toes, which you might not notice if you always wear shoes. Anyway, this thread is pointless.