AIBU to think wearing shoes indoors is a bit odd?

[Livefreely]

For thinking it’s weird to wear shoes inside the house?! Had a couple over last week for lunch and they never took shoes off- even if it’s not bad weather the bottom of shoes are filthy!! So would they go round their house all day in shoes? So weird to me!!
now I’m cleaning my floors as they are so dirty!

Poor circulation, resulting in feet getting very cold really quickly
Childrens toys all over the floor, including lego
Mobility issues meaning that people need footwear that supports their feet
Diabetes whereby it can be potentially dangerous to get something sharp in one's foot

Theres 4 reasons to be getting on with. I'm sure other posters can add a few more to the list!

I admire the Japanese for being so orderly and having rigid rules like absolutely no shoes in the house. They sometimes provide slippers for guests.

Wtf? I would never wear outdoor shoes in someone elses house and expect others to take theirs off when visiting mine. Shocked by how many people think wearing shoes in the house is ok!

Much of the US is so car based I don’t think it’s the same thing, but bringing part of NYC’s sidewalks into your home would be totally disgusting. A great deal of Europe is shoes off I think, and Muslim countries definitely so, that in itself is a big part of the world population. India, China, Japan. So yeah. I don’t know why people feel so deeply about this. Is it the accusation of being dirty? It reminds me of people who don’t wash and insist they are clean. Anyway, lots of traditional customs e.g. sitting on the floor, walking barefoot are actually really good for your body.

Here’s a lovely article on indoor shoe wearing, 96% of outdoor shoe bottoms have traces of poo, lovely. https://theconversation.com/wearing-shoes-in-the-house-is-just-plain-gross-the-verdict-from-scientists-who-study-indoor-contaminants-177542

It is certainly NOT ok. Guests should always remove their shoes when entering the home of another.

I don’t want people to take their shoes off in my house. Who made you the arbiter of what happens in my house?

Not true for everyone. I need to wear boots - preferably hightop, well supported lace ups to support my weak ankles and very scant planter fat pad on my soles. I really need a firm sole. Birkenstocks fine for home but it’s extremely uncomfortable being in bare or socked feet. Bending down and unlacing boots a massive ball ache. I do think the militancy of the shoes off brigade is a little weird and certainly ableist and ageist.

A nuance here - the working class people think the lower middle class people are trying to be posh by insisting on shoes off, the middle class people think that shoes off is fastidious.

I don’t ask people to take their shoes off, but if they ask I’ll say whatever makes you comfortable and don’t judge. If I go to someone’s house and they ask me to take my shoes off, I’ll do it and don’t judge.

It really is fine either way - people get hey up over it because that’s how they were raised.

Cultures are passed on though, so people like my mum raise their children to take their shoes off inside, who in turn raise their children to do the same, and in time you have people with such a distant connection to the country the original shoes off culture came from who still practice it. Is culture still trumping class then when they are several generations removed from the original country and may never have been there? Because its still cultural but you might very well view it as a class issue as you wouldn't know their cultural history.

Slip on shoes have been around for a long time, long before crocs.

My parents never had this rule BUT my dad is notorious for walking dog poo through the house. After the 4th time when I was in my late 20s (and a new wool carpet being hand scrubbed by me, yet again) I implemented this as a rule in my house. He hates it but I have saved hours of my life.

Thanks. I would have said I married into the MC. Shoes On all the way.

Whilst I don't think wearing shoes indoors should be banned outright, I do think it is very strange behaviour and would look deeply down on anyone who didn't automatically remove their shoes when entering someone else's home.

Like they’re going to give a toss about you looking down on them.

That's ridiculously inflexible. Do you normally look down on people just for not doing things the way you do them?

Yeah, that's nuts, she sounds like she has issues.

People have different cleanliness standards. I guarentee you those with a shoes on policy have dirtier houses than those with shoes off.

Its got nothing to do with middle class etc. Its standards. Some people live like stig of the dump these days.

Floors are just one small part of a house. Unless you mop and vacuum every day I guarantee my shoes on floors are cleaner than yours. My robot mop/vacuum is highly efficient.

But ideas about what constitute normal ‘standards of cleanliness’ are also inflected by social class.

Never mind the young ones - the only shoes-off house I visit belongs to an ex colleague, long since retired, who evidently thought it a good idea to have carpet of such a pale grey it’s almost white - all through her hall and sitting/dining room.

One thing nobody has mentioned, is that it’s very unkind to anyone who hates the sight of their own feet - perhaps particularly anyone with bunions - to make them take their shoes off.

Gosh, you look down on us and I suspect that if we met we would quietly return the favour even before knowing your Shoe Policy. Unless you are from a (non- British) shoes off culture, of course.

I do have a few slippers for visitors if they want to use them (new ones I got while in various hotels for work). I thankfully don't get many visitors who aren't wearing socks - we tend to go outside if it is summer.

Even as shoes off house, I agree this is bonkers

Such a lower class thing to say. But you don’t even realise it which is amusing.

Then point being - wealthy, upper class people have manners - therefore their guests comfort is more important than their floors. Bottom line.

But they will also have cleaners/ staff who will be mopping the floors.

So having a pristine cream carpet but being rude to guests is not a sign of being upper middle or upper class. It’s basically the sign of being a bad host.

I find it mad that you say "as if that even needs saying" when this is a whole thread of people disagreeing if it needs saying or not.

Shoes off? Shoes on? Do what you like in your own house.

Neither is intrinsically better than the other.