If you are in the shoes off brigade

[Halfastoneextra]

If you invite someone to your house, say as an evening guest , here is the scenario:

The guest has made an effort to dress up for the evening, say a nice dress, updo, jewellery etc. She turns up at your house where you ask all guests to take their shoes off. This guest turns to a carrier bag she has on her, and withdraws a pair of very nice shoes that she wishes to wear with her dress. They are not stilettos, so won't damage any wooden floors. She shows you the soles and explains they are specially clean ie have not been worn outside and have been wiped down to make sure they are spotless. She says she wishes to wear them as they are part of her outfit and she does not wish to be discomforted by having to go barefoot.

Would you acquiesce. If not, why not?

I have a basket of machine washable slippers for guests to wear if they want!!!

^ it's common in my culture to keep a shelf or basket of slip ons for guests too as shoes inside isn't even a concept.

Be prepared for vomiting emojis, accusations of spreading fungal infections, lying about washing them between guests and, presumably worst of all...not being middle class.

As an aside I have a Veggie friend. I’d happily eat veggie but they always provide meat for guests. I always do veggie when they come to us.

So yes, I guess everyone does have different hosting standards. I don’t subscribe to the ‘I am the host, this is my house, this is how we do things.’

I do - ‘ you are my guests in my home and I will do the upmost to make you feel comfortable’

Mm, sure they do.

Would you consider them bad hosts if they only served vegetarian food in their home?

Nope, I would expect it. I was surprised the husband (who is not veggie) cooked meat.

Anyway, complete thread derail…

So why is that fine, but expecting shoes off is so rude and unwelcoming? If guest preferences trump everything?

100% this. It’s a hangover from the colonial days, a nation of self-important little hobbits nursing delusions of cultural superiority.

Hobbits have shoeless houses. They don't wear shoes.

So they do! A poorly thought-out metaphor, not entirely fair to hobbits.

We had a surveyor come to look round the house this morning. As he came in, he whipped out a pair of blue plastic shoe covers from his briefcase and donned them without so much as a word! I immediately thought of this thread, of course!