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!

We are a shoes off house, but I think each to their own and don’t care if visitors want to keep shoes on or off.

But it's not a silly rule.. actually, I was just thinking the same about you! We have been educated now on germs and bacteria but you seem to be living in a different time.

So you walk around barefoot but can't bring yourself to ask someone to take off their shoes?? Not adding up.

Sounds more like avoidance of confrontation not letting guests know your rules.

That's more common for old-school women.

We're not the problem here 😂

Socks are weird, but not shoes with traces of urine and faeces? Okay.

I don't know a single person in my circle who has a shoes off house. As I said I don't live in the UK, and while of course there are some people here who don't want people wearing shoes in their house they are very much in the minority - surely you can understand that people in different countries have different customs?

I would never ask someone to take their shoes off in my house because I don't want them to - how on earth did you get "avoidance of confrontation" from my post? I wear shoes in my house, why on earth would I ask anyone else to take them off I've even told tradesmen coming inside that they can keep their boots on - I do own a Hoover (mostly carpet in my flat).

As for "educated on germs and bacteria" - give me strength!!! I am one of the healthiest people I know, I rarely get so much as a cold. Those who think they are going to catch something from shoes being worn inside a house obviously have very little to occupy their minds. MN is a hive of people (women) who are obsessed with ridiculous notions of hygiene. It's beyond boring.

Edited to say I am sitting, feet up, on my recliner, in my flat, typing this - WITH SHOES ON.

Cats wash their paws, dogs need paws washed.

We are shoes off with house flip flops.
Guests can come into kitchen and terrace with shoes on, but living areas and upstairs is shoes off.

No carpets here.
Reasons are ease of cleaning floors, comfort, foot health and tranquility (shoes are noisy)

This is just bonkers. I tend to take my shoes off when I get into my own home as I prefer not to wear them, but will wear them in the house if I have just come home and are going out again soon. If visitors come I really don’t care whether they’ve got their shoes on or not. I wouldn’t ask them.

What about when you have children? My kids spend half their lives sat on the ground outside when playing, and doing press ups etc on sports fields etc. All those ‘outside’ germs don’t seem to have harmed them at all.

If someone is a shoes off family then fair enough but some of these shoes off posts are seriously OTT.

I’m pretty sure most dog owners don’t wash their dogs paws after every walk and trip out in the garden though.

Depends on location, climate and dog.

I think it depends massively if someone's home is hard floors or carpet.....walking across a carpet that can't just be wiped clean with shoes on isn't ideal at all.

I hate taking my shoes off in other people houses. Its unlikely we would continue a lengthy friendship if I was asked to. I always thought it was weird that people removed their shoes when they came to my house. At home I wear slippers but I do not like being barefoot at all.

If I go to someone’s home and see there are shoes by the door I take mine off too. If not, I leave my shoes on.

Classist shite, once again dragged out for purposes of self important trumpet blowing.

I used to live with a German woman, long time ago (I was renting a room from her at the time) who had the hard and fast rule about no shoes in the house. Fine, whatever. We had a workman over one afternoon, and she point blank refused to let the poor man do his job in peace, ended up putting fucking blankets down from the door to the area he was working in and making him walk on those - which of course meant he could not use the loo or grab a glass of water or anything else.

Towards the end he told me, quietly, as I was chatting to him to ask him if he needed anything, how humiliated he felt. He had holes in his socks and didn't want to show them, plus his feet tended to smell a bit in his workboots. The poor man was mortified and it would have made absolutely ZERO difference if he'd just been allowed to walk around normally and do his job.

You're cluelessly over privileged if you insist anyone removes their shoes when walking into your home.

And you must let people know of your foot fetish BEFORE they agree to come to your house. Stop assuming that your tiny bubble of privilege is how the rest of the world operates, stop assuming your own odd little rules are universal. They are not.

Signed - someone who is currently barefoot and doesn't wear shoes in the house who actually wants people who enter my home to feel comfortable and happy.

I agree it’s classist, but the classism is on the shoes on side. Because when you’re privileged, you’re not the one cleaning the footprints up the help do that. Because when you’re privileged, you don’t tend to come into contact with streets or public transport full of actual shit, piss, vomit, dead animals, and bad drainage. Because when you’re privileged you’re likely to have uber expensive stone or posh tile floors that can be thoroughly cleaned of any slight soiling from your shoes that go from house to car to office and back again.

So yes, the shoes on rule is classist shite.

Nah. Normal people just wipe up any mess on their floors without abusing visitors and don't have a shit fit about a bit of dirt. Unlike over privileged arseholes :)

Nice try though.

Abusing visitors what about your host? It’s pure class entitlement to think you can just march into another person’s home and not care about leaving a mess for them to clean. The upper classes do it, because they have servants cleaning so they don’t give a shit about creating mess.

Anyone that does that to another person has to look down on them and think they are better than their friend to not give a shit about creating a sticky, likely stinky mess all on their floors. It’s the act of someone slumming it.

My feet are ugly, usually adorned with a blister plaster or a couple of corn pads, and get very cold very quickly. I'm as eager to show you my bare feet as my vulva.

It's rude to ask!

I am so happy you see how ridiculous your “abusing visitors” was once I mirrored it.

You are historically and culturally incorrect as to which class is shoes on, shoes on is firmly in the elite category. Shoes off is to save the backs of working class that don’t have the servants or time to do extra cleaning when a simple two second act gives them precious leisure time.

I always take off my shoes in my home and always offer at other people's houses. I would never ask anyone to take their shoes off, seems really rude to me, I like my guests to feel comfortable and not everyone is comfortable with shoes off.

Socks are a marvellous invention. 🧦

I'm surprised Style & Beauty isn't full of threads asking for advice on what dress looks great with socks only or bare feet

I guess if you and your entire social circle wear joggers all the time, it makes sense.

@SpiritAdder Because when you’re privileged, you don’t tend to come into contact with streets or public transport full of actual shit, piss, vomit, dead animals, and bad drainage

Really not sure how many people this is a problem for? People who are not privileged don’t tend to wade through streets filled with the excrement and dead animals. Maybe this is the case in some third world places, although if do, I dare say they have more problems to contend with than if Mary takes her shoes in/off while visiting?

Good point! Sometimes I use crutches. I should have little wellies on them for outdoors and fluffy bunny slippers on them for inside. Coming to think about it; my dogs need to change their paws when they come in.