Anonymous wrote:I grew up in SW Michigan and had family in Dallas TX. No one ever took their shoes off upon entering the house. Including my grandfather who was in the oil business and occasionally went out into the fields in his cowboy boots. It just wasn't done. When we visited houses where you had to take your shoes off it felt weird. Especially if someone wasn't wearing socks and their feet were bare and showing. Weird and awkward. Almost obscene lol.

I now take my shoes off when I get home, but more for reasons of comfort. If I am going out again within an hour or so I don't take them off and would never ask guests to do so. I really don't worry about dirt on the floors. I never suffered any ramifications of dirt on the floors, even with having shoes on in house my whole life, so -- I don't get some people's obsession with this.

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.

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, it’s gross. Same situation with my mixed race family. His side is shoes on, but are otherwise immaculate. We try to take our shoes off by the door, but sometimes have to go back in get something or go from front door to back. I try not to think about what’s on the floors because it disgusts me. I’ll admit that my least favorite chore is mopping. I do like vacuuming. We don’t have a cleaning service. House is very neat— but those floors!

Anonymous wrote:Blue blood easterners in the business and professional classes would think it exceptionally gauche to remove shoes and walk around a house in barefeet or in sweaty socks.

Anonymous wrote:Blue blood easterners in the business and professional classes would think it exceptionally gauche to remove shoes and walk around a house in barefeet or in sweaty socks.