Shoes on around the house

[ByGentleFatball]

So another poster said that shoes on vs shoes off in the house isn't an issue that people feel strongly about. Not my experience at all!

When my partner took me to his parent's house, he told me at the door to take off my shoes and he did the same. I'd never been in a shoes off home before that.

One day, much later on, his mum was talking about how disrespectful someone was for just walking in her house with shoes on and how it was her looking down on them.

I explained that I never would have done it either if partner didn't say so as I wasn't raised doing it. Her other kids piped up and said they reminded all their friends to do it if they knew they didn't at their own house or wasn't sure.

Since then, I've seen that some people do feel really strongly about it for respect and/or hygiene reasons. Some equally defend not doing it, and not visiting homes who have that rule.

Are you a shoes on or shoes off home? Have you experienced it as a divisive subject?

Not unreasonable: I know people feel strongly either way

Unreasonable: This isn't an issue anyone really cares about.

It’s already there, it’s poo on your bedcover….

Speaking as someone who doesn't wear shoes in the house, this is such a judgemental and factually incorrect thing to say.
Some people seem to derive self-righteous pleasure from being as dust free as possible. Great, except often those same families have kids either allergies. And it's not the guests with muddy shoes or granny's unkempt house that cause them, no it's their very own squeaky clean one that hasn't prepared them for life.

I have a friend like this who just runs around trying to police everyone else when her own obsessive behaviour has caused her kids' health challenges.

At the very least, keep your behaviours to your household without judging other's for something so trivial - live and let live.

Maybe some of us don't live in such filthy countries! I find people who spend so much time thinking about germs and hygiene beyond boring. Does it ever occur to you that some of us have managed to reach retirement age doing all these things you find so "disgusting and unhygienic" without experiencing any more health issues than a yearly cold?

As I have already said, I don't live in the UK. The streets here are not paved with poo as they appear to be there.

Even if there is, what effect is it going to have on me - do tell!

So your standard for hygiene is anything that doesn’t make you ill? Low bar.

Oh do bore off dear. I have an actual life, with far more interesting things to think about than how hygienic it is to wear shoes indoors. Being on MN is a revelation into the dull little lives some people inhabit.

Family shoes off
Visitors can leave their shoes on. Only because all of downstairs is bricks, floorboards or tiles though so easy to clean.

That’s one way to justify poor hygiene standards.

If any tradesman has been outside ploughing through dirt and mud, then yes, it’s quite reasonable to ask for shoe-covers.

Other than that? No, I wouldn’t bother. 🤷‍♀️. I have laminate floors to make them visitor friendly.

I wouldn’t insist people change their clothes or don’t sit down just because they've used public transport on the way.