Why don’t Americans take shoes off inside the house?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a class thing. Would never cross my mind to ask someone to take their shoes off

But the anti-shoe contingent thinks it's the slobs and the rubes who wear shoes indoors

People have opinions, and opinions vary. Some people are rigid about them and can get flagrantly rude about them. It happens.

Oh, dahling. There’s proper. And no one will tell you. That’s how the world turns

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am Asian American and grew up without shoes inside the house and assumed this was the norm. My husband is American and is used to a no shoes household, but he’s not as fastidious as I am about it - if he needs to pop back into the house to get something he will leave shoes on. I don’t make a big deal about it.

His parents however, wear shoes inside all the time, unless it’s something like rain boots or snow boots. Otherwise they’ll put on sneakers or dress shoes, go about their business outside, and keep them on when they return. This includes wearing outside shoes in their bedroom and bathroom, not taking them off until bedtime.

I find this very puzzling as they are very neat and hygiene minded people. They live in a beautiful, expensive house, they pay for weekly cleaning and specifically ask the cleaners to mop all the floors, and they are generally pretty paranoid about things like germs. So how come they don’t mind all the gunk that’s on the bottom of their shoes? They live in a very urban part of DC so it’s not like they only go out to drive , and use public transportation, too.

Is this common among Americans ? If it’s relevant they are in their early 60s. Every time they visit and wear shoes inside our house I am so uncomfortable but I don’t want to be rude and repeatedly ask/remind them.

Usually there are jokes about boorish Americans who go to Europe and complain about the habits of Europeans. Now you are an Asian who comments on how Americans live. In one Asian country I visited I noticed people defecating in holes in the floor -- no flush toilets, no toilet paper. I saw this with my owjn eyes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a class thing. Would never cross my mind to ask someone to take their shoes off

But the anti-shoe contingent thinks it's the slobs and the rubes who wear shoes indoors

People have opinions, and opinions vary. Some people are rigid about them and can get flagrantly rude about them. It happens.

Oh, dahling. There’s proper. And no one will tell you. That’s how the world turns

Riiiight. We all know about people like you. Carry on.