leave your shoes at the door, thank you

[gallant_murray]

Ha. Reminds me of the time I got up in the middle of the night and stepped barefoot on this wet mass that was weirdly crunchy. Turned on the light, and saw that apparently the junebugs hadn't sat well with the cat.

Thanks Nano! I literally laughed out loud at that.

Me too Good stories...

[mukade]

After 10 years in Japan, I feel uncomfortable wearing outdoor shoes inside.

Our front door when the family calls...



Mukade

[Cynth]

So, Mukade, what do the guests wear on their feet once they take their shoes off? Do they just wear whatever they were wearing inside their shoes (like nylons or socks) or do they wear slippers? I am curious about how this works. And what do you yourself wear indoors? Does your house just have one entrance so that it isn't confusing as to where you left your outdoor shoes?

[hyldemoer]

At my house I keep a basket of white tube socks near a chair at the front door for my clients if they forget to bring clean socks to wear during their therapy with me.
They'd have to wear clean socks even if they didn't take their shoes off until they started therapy. Therapy ends with about 10 minutes of bodywok on the feet before I finish off with bodywork on their head/face.
The socks get bleached or thrown away after use, depending on the client.

Some of my friends have used the opportunity to invest in wacky looking socks to wear when we visit each other.
In the winter its amazing how many of my friends carry slipper socks in their coat pockets because so many classes we take require us to leave our shoes at the school or temple door.

[anniemcu]

The wife and I just got a puppy. He's not house-broken. We wear our shoes indoors on purpose.

Ha. Reminds me of the time I got up in the middle of the night and stepped barefoot on this wet mass that was weirdly crunchy. Turned on the light, and saw that apparently the junebugs hadn't sat well with the cat.

Yuck! Been there, stepped in something ickily similar.

The utmost in wierdness to step out of bed onto is the cold, slightly sticky, little bit squishy, slightly wiggly thing that upon leaping back into the bed and searching madly for the light, reveals a medium sized treefrog who managed to collect a lot of dust bunnies on his way to your slippers. YIPE! ... followed in close startlement measure by the banded king snake by my office chair on an early morning in the middle of winter ..

[mukade]

So, Mukade, what do the guests wear on their feet once they take their shoes off? Do they just wear whatever they were wearing inside their shoes (like nylons or socks) or do they wear slippers? I am curious about how this works. And what do you yourself wear indoors? Does your house just have one entrance so that it isn't confusing as to where you left your outdoor shoes?

Most Japanese houses have a pile of guest slippers at the front door. People usually wear those. Except in the tatami rooms where you have to take your slippers off at the door.

We also have toilet slippers that you change at the toilet door.

I usually wear slippers too, but I have some shoes that I haven't worn outside before.

We have two entrances, but we usually use the front door and walk around the house to the back.

Mukade

[Martin Milner]

I have a Japansese sister-in-law, and we all take our shoes off when visiting that house, but they don't provide alternate footwear - I had to provide my own old pair of slippers. I didn't mind the shoe removal, but the failure to provide alternate arrangements annoyed me - my feet got cold in just socks.

At home, I usually change into slippers when I get home, but not for any reason to do with cleanliness, our carpets are grimy enough, it's just for my own comfort. I wouldn't expect guests to change shoes just to please me, unless that have mega-street-crud all over them.

When having guests to stay, we provide towels and fresh soap, placing them on the guests' beds. That's a habit I learnt from my mother.

[chrisoff]

The wife and I just got a puppy. He's not house-broken. We wear our shoes indoors on purpose.

Ha. Reminds me of the time I got up in the middle of the night and stepped barefoot on this wet mass that was weirdly crunchy. Turned on the light, and saw that apparently the junebugs hadn't sat well with the cat.

Done that before (and the dog one as well), not a pleasant feeling.

I take my shoes off when I get home, but mostly because it's more comfortable and I like to lie flat out on the couch so don't want to put footwear on it. It's also because I've got wooden floors and don't want to annoy the girl in the flat downstairs by stamping around all the time.

However I don't care about other people wearing footwear in the flat. ALthough if they track a heap of dirt across the floor I'll call them all the names I can think of, but that's because I hate cleaning.

[buddhu]

It's no biggie to me. If someone were to ask me to remove my shoes before entering their house it wouldn't offend in the least. I might consider it a minor nuisance if I was wearing a pair of Doc Marten boots or summink, but it really wouldn't bother me. If I go to someone's home I generally try to respect their ways. If they have ways I cannot respect, then I'd probably decline the invitation to their home.

When people come to my house I really don't care if they keep their shoes on of if they take 'em off - whichever makes them comfortable. We're not materialistic or particularly houseproud. If a carpet gets muddy, We'll clean it later.

[gonzo914]

At my house I keep a basket of white tube socks near a chair at the front door for my clients if they forget to bring clean socks to wear during their therapy with me.

Eewww. I don't even like to rent bowling shoes, but borrowed socks? Loaners? Socks pre-adorned with other people's toe jam?

Thank you, but no.

[Nanohedron]

I have a mop and I'm not afraid to use it.

I've suggested to visitors that they leave their shoes on if the day finds the floor a bit on the dirty side, and yet some insist on taking them off anyway.

I love a good opportunity to castigate people for being considerate.

[Henke]

Just read the first couple of posts in this thread, but I'm going to chime in.

In Sweden it's custom to always remove your shoes when you enter a private house. We do this in the hallway where we usually have special shelves to put them. You only enter someones home with your shoes on if you're told to do so (someone might tell you it's okay if he's going to clean soon anyway, or something like that), otherwise you remove them, or remain in the hallway.
Frankly, I've never understood the logic with walking around with the shoes indoors. I think it's uncomfortable, uncleanly, and rude. The last one is of course my personal view. In my opinion, civilized people keep themselves and their homes clean. If you wear your shoes inside it gets dirty, and if you keep it clean there's no reason to wear shoes inside at all. I would consider it bad mannors if someone wore shoes in my home, and he would be asked to leave. If he's to fat, lazy or rude to take them off, or at least ask before he enters, he's got no business in my crib.

[DCrom]

Hmmm.

Rather like Weeks, I was brought up on a cattle ranch, and we normally took our work boots off before coming in the house. If you've ever seen what gets on work boots around cattle, you'd see why, too. Street shoes, we didn't bother.

My wife is from Hong Kong, and her family always take their shoes off when entering their homes. Both practicality (hot/wet climate, and, until fairly recently, most asian cities didn't have terribly clean streets) and culture there. At home, we remove our shoes, and expect our kids to do the same. Just makes housecleaning easier, even though we don't have wall-to-wall carpets in most rooms. We keep our outside shoes outside the front door (covered porch) or in a rack in the laundry room (between the kitchen and the garage). With sandals outside the doors to the backyard.

But guests? If they take their shoes off, it's appreciated, but we certainly don't try to enforce it beyond our own children. In general, Asian friends usually take theirs off (same as they would at home), others about 50:50. And if we're having a gathering of any size (like C & F parties ) we'll be vacuuming/mopping afterwards anyway, so it really doesn't matter, anyway.

[Cynth]

At my house I keep a basket of white tube socks near a chair at the front door for my clients if they forget to bring clean socks to wear during their therapy with me.
They'd have to wear clean socks even if they didn't take their shoes off until they started therapy. Therapy ends with about 10 minutes of bodywok on the feet before I finish off with bodywork on their head/face.
The socks get bleached or thrown away after use, depending on the client.

Some of my friends have used the opportunity to invest in wacky looking socks to wear when we visit each other.
In the winter its amazing how many of my friends carry slipper socks in their coat pockets because so many classes we take require us to leave our shoes at the school or temple door.

That sounds like a very comfortable way of handling things. I would likely be motivated to finish knitting this darn pair of socks I'm working on. I think, since you are using your floors for therapy, that you have a special situation and your requirement for clean feet makes perfect sense. Since it isn't the general custom in the States, probably you will get many different reactions from people who aren't involved in the therapy----not much you can do about that I think.

So, Mukade, what do the guests wear on their feet once they take their shoes off? Do they just wear whatever they were wearing inside their shoes (like nylons or socks) or do they wear slippers? I am curious about how this works. And what do you yourself wear indoors? Does your house just have one entrance so that it isn't confusing as to where you left your outdoor shoes?

Most Japanese houses have a pile of guest slippers at the front door. People usually wear those. Except in the tatami rooms where you have to take your slippers off at the door.

We also have toilet slippers that you change at the toilet door.

I usually wear slippers too, but I have some shoes that I haven't worn outside before.

We have two entrances, but we usually use the front door and walk around the house to the back.

Mukade

Thank you---that is very interesting. I have one more question----would the guest slippers be laundered after the company was gone so that they would be totally clean for the next people, or would that not be such a big concern? It sounds as though everyone would change into the same pair of toilet slippers?

At my house I keep a basket of white tube socks near a chair at the front door for my clients if they forget to bring clean socks to wear during their therapy with me.

Eewww. I don't even like to rent bowling shoes, but borrowed socks? Loaners? Socks pre-adorned with other people's toe jam?

Thank you, but no.

The socks she supplies are clean!!!! You can get them clean by washing them, totally clean!!! That's the whole point---CLEAN!!!!! She even bleaches them!!!

Just read the first couple of posts in this thread, but I'm going to chime in.

In Sweden it's custom to always remove your shoes when you enter a private house. We do this in the hallway where we usually have special shelves to put them. You only enter someones home with your shoes on if you're told to do so (someone might tell you it's okay if he's going to clean soon anyway, or something like that), otherwise you remove them, or remain in the hallway.
Frankly, I've never understood the logic with walking around with the shoes indoors. I think it's uncomfortable, uncleanly, and rude. The last one is of course my personal view. In my opinion, civilized people keep themselves and their homes clean. If you wear your shoes inside it gets dirty, and if you keep it clean there's no reason to wear shoes inside at all. I would consider it bad mannors if someone wore shoes in my home, and he would be asked to leave. If he's to fat, lazy or rude to take them off, or at least ask before he enters, he's got no business in my crib.

Ah ha! I have Swedish ancestors. Maybe that is why this idea is so appealing to me. I did not know it was the custom to take one's shoes off indoors in Sweden. But, Henke, just remember that, as you can see in this thread, people are raised in different cultures and taking one's shoes off in another person's home has different meanings to different people so someone might seem rude when they really just don't know your custom. Maybe if you have company from another country you could put up a humorous sign asking people to take their shoes off. Then they would know what to do and they wouldn't be embarrassed by being asked to take them off by the host. Just working for world peace here .

[The Weekenders]

I take my shoes off at Dana's house during the whistle party. I didn't hesitate a moment. I have found that wearing wooly winter hiking socks is more comfortable in that situation (he has bare floors mostly). Heavy socks are like slippers in a way. Of course at the whistle party, there's all that nasty fipple spit. Nyuk. But after the poteen tasting (hint: like dry erase marker solvent), who notices?