Wearing Shoes Inside - The Fuck?

[NLS]

In Norway we take our shoes off. It's great to have your feet getting some fresh air and not be trapped inside shoes all day long. Plus, things like ingrown toenails are a lot easier to fix and prevent if you simply don't walk around with shoes on 24/7. Beleive me, I've had my surgery because of that before, and the reason it never got well, was because my job consisted of walking around with shoes on all day long. After my last surgery, I just took it like a man, walked around in a sandal on my right foot and took both shoes/sandal off whenever I had the chance. Toe (sans nail) grew back to normal in a matter of days.

I remember though in Spain, they usually had their shoes on.
Why?
"Because it's dirty on the floor, and you don't wanna get your feet dirty"
Why's the floor so dirty then?
"b-bb-becaus..."
THE FLOOR IS DIRTY BECAUSE YOU WALK WITH YOUR SHOES INSIDE FFS, JUST STOP DOING IT AND KEEP YOUR HOME CLEAN WHILE YOUR FEET ARE FRESH TOO. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?
It's like what came first of chicken/egg, except you know that if you just took yourself a few minutes every now and then to clean your floor, and DON'T WALK WITH YOUR SHOES ON INSIDE. Then you won't ever need to do it again.

Why taking your shoes off is great:
Pros: Your feet get to breathe
You don't get the floor dirty
You don't get sweaty and stinky feet/toes
You are not as prone to common diseases linked to bad foot hygiene
Your become more flexible
Healthier feet

Cons: You have to take your shoes on/off whenever you leave/enter your house. boo-hoo...

Slippers get a free pass though, in case of emergency.

 

[zidine100]

i do whatever i feel like at the time, because screw the rules i have shoes.

Thats what a mop disinfectant and water is for, you know the mystical art of cleaning. I have hard floors.

 

[COMaestro]

I have never even thought about taking my shoes off in my own house until I had a baby. Now he's crawling around and liable to pick up anything he can find. However, I still typically wear my shoes in the house as I am often in and out and there is no place near the door that is convenient to place them anyway.

Also, we have a very old dog who is liable to relieve himself whenever he gets the notion. We live in an apartment so we can't just let him wander a back yard or anything like that. So we just try to let our child play in an area where the dog does not go and try to keep it as clean as possible.

Besides, have you never sat outside in the grass or on the curb? Guess what? Your couch or chair is now dirty from the outside contaminants you brought in on your clothes. Dirt is everywhere and it is going to make it into your house one way or the other. As long as you clean regularly, it is not a big deal.

However, I do respect the wishes of those who ask me to remove my shoes when I enter their home. It's just the polite thing to do.

 

[Harkonnen64]

Depends on what kind of flooring. Is it carpet? Tile? It can really depend. Some people prefer shoes though while others would go for sandals or slippers. That's what I've observed, anyways. I prefer slippers myself though.

I'm thinking that it would be dirty no matter what you do though. Your feet aren't always going to be clean, so when you put them inside your slippers, then your slippers get dirty too. Furthermore, I've noticed that walking around the house in most surfaces will move dust & dirt into the air. In a way...

[HEADING=1]No where is safe. [/HEADING]

Oh come on, my feet might be dirty, but AS dirty as the sole of my shoe after I've been into the city? I seriously doubt it. I doubt it is even close.

Actually, most street surfaces are cleaner than your kitchen floor from a germ stand-point. Wind and erosion allows germs to be moved off the street, while most floors inside allow germs produced by food, hair, and dust to stagnate.

 

[teebeeohh]

people walking into my place with their shoes on is one of the things that triggers my rage attacks. you walk around on the street where things i don't want to know about get onto the soles of your shoes and i like to not wear shoes and socks.

 

[Rednog]

I offer slippers to people who come into my house, otherwise if they don't take off their shoes they can't go past the foyer. I don't want to have to mop my floors or steam clean my carpet every time some bozo wants to track their shit all over my house.

 

[Lonewolfm16]

Basically if I am still clothed in normal clothing I will have my shoes on. Its perfectly comfortable, saves time if I need to go somewhere and just kinda feels natural. (I live in the United States by the way)

 

[Robot Number V]

One person's polite removal of dirty shoes is another's rude exposure of dirty, smelly feet. There is no right action.

...I'm thinking that it would be dirty no matter what you do though. Your feet are never going to be clean, ...]

Fixed that >.>

Yeah, what this guy said. I would think that guests walking around my house barefoot would be way grosser then them wearing shoes.

We have hardwood floors and a husky that sheds A LOT.
We can't keep our floors clean at the rate this dog sheds.

I wear shoes indoors,
have you ever had a piece of dog hair stuck in your foot?
It's like stepping on a shard of glass.

Although I don't wear sneakers,
I wear flip-flops that I can take off or throw on easily,
so I guess that counts as part of the slippers camp.

Um. Are you is your enter key stuck, or are you writing a poem?

 

[BartyMae]

If it's summer and I don't live there, (and I presumably haven't stepped in anything wet or whatever), the shoes stay on generally. If it's winter, I take shoes/boots off as to make sure that I don't get snow sludge all over the place.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

I guess people who are complaining about the dirt haven't heard of mats you can wipe your feet on before you come in. I also think that my countries climate is just as wet and muddy as anyone else's climate around here. This is like being weirded out that some house have keys that lock from the inside rather than latches so only those with the key can get out.

Spoiler: Relevant Comic strip

http://satwcomic.com/art/no-way-out.jpg

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

snip

Breaking my post up makes it easier on the eyes for others to read.
You're the only person who's ever taken issue with it.
In fact, quite a few users don't like it when a person writes a block of text without breaking it up.
(I'm not saying my post was a enough to be considered a "block", but the principal still applies).

 

[putowtin]

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?

Ok one, a sitcom has a limited run time, watching characters take off shoes is hardly award winning entertainment.

Two, some people keep shoes on indoors, my dads diabetic and suffers from "peripheral neuropathy" (loss of sensation in extremities) which, if un-noticed, can lead to the loss of a toe/foot. So he buys special shoes to stop this from happening.

 

[Tiger Sora]

No household I've ever been to had it's occupants wear shoes.
It also strikes me at odd all the american shows where they wear shoes in doors at all times. (American Dad episode where Francine's adoptive parents stay for a few weeks)
Weird Americans.

 

[NiPah]

I live in Florida and I've never been to a house where people took their shoes off before entering, on the contrary unless it's my own home and I wanted to feel comfortable I'd feel awkward taking them off. Now I have family in Ohio and while not asked its much more customary to take off your shoes when entering a house.
I wonder what % of those who take their shoes off live in a colder climate and vice/versa, I know in Florida last week it was an average of 85 degree(f) weather with an average of 75% humidity, so maybe it's a smell issue?

 

[mad825]

From the UK,depends really on how long I'm going to stay in.If I'm entering someone else house I always take them off at the door out of respect and not to cause a bloody mess like my own place. The expectation of the rule is when I do sports inside.

Otherwise, I usually walk into the living room and take them off while sitting down unless I was going back out again soon,I also wear proper leather boots so taking them off is sometimes a must.

 

[Nexxis]

I wear shoes when I can't be bothered to take them off, or in situations where it's not a good idea to take them off. Back home, we have mostly hardwood floors, but they're old and splinter very easily, so I wear shoes there.

I think it's common-place to wear shoes indoors here in the US, but I have had friends that go by the "shoes stay at the door" rule. It's usually in situations where they have a really nice carpet on the floor.

 

[YingDerpington]

From Englands' former island prison here, yeah, haven't been to a single household where you don't take off your shoes here, unless you're staying for a few minutes at most. People down here just seem to not like shoes... Especially bogans (They may or may not be wearing no shoes outside the house also)

 

[GLo Jones]

I've always seen it as one of those 'only in America' things. To me, shoes are to be worn outside, not around the house.

Do you wear shoes at work?

Yep, but my work has a dress code, which naturally includes shoes.

It's generally good manners to take your shoes off unless you specifically notice the host hasn't, or know that they don't care about the state of their floor.

 

[-Dragmire-]

Wow, I thought it was a common courtesy to take off your footwear before entering a house beyond the foyer, which usually has a placemat or closet for shoes and boots.

Still, what do you do about any pets? We had a dog for a number of years. Couldn't exactly tell him not to track in dirt.

Wipe off their feet if the weather's muddy/snowy. At least that's what I do for my dog.

Media eh?

Here's my return question then: Do you wear shoes at work?

Naturally in retail work it's necessary but when I had an office job we were required to either take off our shoes(provided no noticeable odors rose from them) or have a clean pair of shoes that stayed at work for us to wear.