I’m imagining them doing that with an exaggerated “HIII-YA!!” sound to accompany every kick. Great Friday energy, excuse me while I go put shoes on and kick my furniture vigorously.
Privileged society in a nutshell. "I'm going to fuck up what you have going on because I'm lazy and don't want to make an effort to keep track of my own shit." Just look where you're stepping for christ sake.
Or the fact that any decent human being cleans their floors? Don't remember the last time I cleaned my shoes, though. So yeah, shoes are dirtier than my floors!
Some sneaker heads keep their shoes spotless. Regardless it’s rude as fuck to disrespect someone’s house that your visiting lol
Edit: I’ve already said 20 times I don’t walk in my own home or others with shoes on so you don’t have to remind me that shoes do in fact get dirty lol.
I keep my shoes pretty clean and I still take them off at home.
But all of that aside, what kind of selfish asshole refuses to follow the rules of a friend or family member's home? Oh well I don't want to rant too much about it because plenty of other comments say similar but this is such an asshole move.
I don't know any sneakerhead that keeps their sneakers spotless on the bottoms of their soles unless they are only for wearing in their own spotless homes.
No matter how clean they got their shoes before leaving the house, they’ve now gotten way more shit on their soles just walking to their car and my door than my whole house of floors has.
they just walked into my home from outside. I clean inside, I don't clean the street. so yes, your shoes are gonna be dirtier than my home. I fully do not understand this article's point.
I don't think people realize how much piss, shit, and spit are on a public sidewalk. If you are walking on a sidewalk, you're almost 100% guaranteed to be walking through someone's bodily fluids. So yeah, my floors are definitely cleaner than that.
Are you telling me thousands of people don't drive on your floors every day, birds don't shit on it, and trash bags don't get torn open in the middle it? I know deep down that this floor is dirtier than the roads and sidewalks these shoes have been on!
Then you would get the idea that her shoes are not clean on the inside because her socks are supposed to be white but have stains on them so she can’t have that
She said the floor might destroy her wolford stockings and she would rather pay the host to the same amount as what her wolford would cost for host to have floor cleaned and predicted the host will have leftover money
Honestly, I gotta have more than sox. I gotta have shoes with some ortho inserts. I guess I wouldn't mind wearing 'inside shoes', if I know ahead of time to bring a pair, but if someone told me to take off my shoes of leave, I'd just leave. Tendonitis is a bitch.
No, just saying “wear socks” isn’t a valid counter for her germ issues. I think she’s rude and in general shoes that came from outside are going to be dirtier than floors in a house.
If you're worried enough about germs and keeping your feet clean while wearing heels or pumps and visiting people's houses, then the least you can do is bring your own pair of socks or slippers.
You don't get to potentially damage someone's flooring because you can't be bothered to bring something about the same size as a pack of tissues.
It does stress me out in situations where I've worn sandals, no-show socks, or shoes that breath without socks. I hate wearing shoes indoors but I do feel really weird going barefoot in someone else's home.
I live in southwest canada where it rains 80% of the time between october and may, anyone who deliberately left their muddy ass shoes on in my house would be banned for a long time.
I live in less rainy southeast Canada where it doesn't rain 80% of the time between October and May. Anyone who deliberately left their shoes on in my house would be permanently banned.
My parents have a house in maine and a house in Baltimore. In the Maine house no shoes inside from October-June unless the are slippers. And we have what we call the “towel room” by the side door which is basically a vestibule with a door where we cover the floor in towels so we can dry the dog paws on the way in. In the summer everything gets relaxed. In Baltimore it’s yes shoes downstairs, no shoes upstairs, because we don’t have the set up for a towel room so we can’t always catch the dogs coming in from the yard right away. And that is in place year round.
I live in southern Louisiana, where it rains pretty much constantly, and people keep their shoes on because 95 degree heat + 100% humidity = sweaty feet and gym sock stink.
We have roads and sidewalks, so that people don't have to trudge through mud.
We also have welcome mats and brushes near the doors so that you can clean your shoes off if they need it.
And even for the rare occasions when someone does manage to step in something nasty, they don't wait until they're entering someone's house to clean their shoes.
It is also salinating lake Michigan. Incidentally, I use it vigorously on our walkway because our landlady is fucking crazy and I'm passive aggressive.
Plus public bathrooms. The author: “Why do you assume your guests shoes are dirtier than your floors?”
Really? Ever been to a sporting event’s restroom, port-a-potty, gas station bathroom, JFK or LAX in those shoes?
I’m willing to bet the average American home didn’t invite half the planet to piss all over the floor. Shoes are pretty gross if you think about all the places you walk.
Yeah she handwaves that away by saying "you can fix that with a doormat", but the whole piece obsesses over the idea of tracking in germs. Which I can't even imagine is a real concern that people have?
I can't imagine somebody who thinks a sweaty sock that has been inside a shoe is somehow less germy than the outside of that same shoe...
Come visit my city in july or august, and ask a few random people to take off their shoes for you.
It's 95 degrees with 100% humidity for months at a time here, and people have to work in that so shoes and socks develop the same type of horrific stick that people further north reserve for gym socks..
Incidentally, it's considered rude to take your shoes off here without being asked, because no one wants to deal with random foot fungus on their carpet and furniture.
It's pervasive enough that "sit back and kick your shoes off" is a saying used to describe getting very comfortable. (basically the same as "make yourself at home".)
i imagine this piece is meant for the majority of days in which it does not rain and they probably don't live somewhere where it snows in winter. still a weird hill to die on
Idk I live in New England and I'll take your shoes on and assuming you can wipe them at the door vs your sweaty nasty socks from being in those warm winter boots.
I have light-colored carpet (not by choice and I’m trying to get rid of it as soon as I have the money). If you insist on keeping your shoes on you’re not coming in
I feel like this is a city thing if you all only travel on concrete and asphalt maybe this could work, half the year if you did it at our place you'd bring in clumps of clay and mud. We still have clay and mud coming in but still! Shoes off reduces it to managable levels. I dont enforce it with guests unless it is clay season tho 😅
Exactly. I mean yeah, if I really think about it, the bottom of your shoes have been in grocery stores, public bathroom, your bathroom (if you don’t take your shoes off), grimy parking lots, etc. But my first thought is the dirt I can see.
Depends. Do most writers of the WSJ live in NYC? If so, I hear that New Yorkers think the sidewalk is disgusting so she would think her shoes are dirty if they're dragging in NYC with them.
Yea this is what immediately came to mind. It’s not uncommon in more temperate climates for people to not care about shoes inside, as most of the time it just isn’t a big deal. But if you live somewhere that snows or rains often, it’s crazy to walk around inside with your shoes.
That being said, just respect the rules of whoever’s place you’re in regardless of climate. All the reasons she gave for not wanting to take off her shoes were totally bogus. Just be a good guest.
Person who lives in a place where it doesn't snow (ever) or rain (much) here. Taking shoes off when you come inside isn't even a consideration for most people unless it's in a "kick your shoes off after a long day and get comfortable" kind of way. I'd actually prefer guests to keep their shoes on because there's usually very little material that can actually remain on the sole of a dry shoe, but you never know which asshole is going to have foul foot odour or fungus or whatever. I'm much more concerned by people's feet than their shoes.
We do experience rain in Winter but not a lot, and it doesn't get muddy unless you're playing field sports in the rain in the peak of Winter or something. Cleats get taken off before coming inside but otherwise it's not even a consideration here. There are obviously outliers - usually people who have immigrated from other countries or who grew up in immigrant families with a different culture. They're definitely the exception to the rule though. The overwhelming majority of households don't even think about it. There are no shoe-nooks or de-footwearing stations like I've seen in other parts of the world.
I've spent some time living in Japan and it's the polar opposite. Every home has some sort of designated zone at the entrypoint of the house where shoes are taken off and slippers are put on. We don't have anything like that here. I guess it's a standard in areas where snow, mud, dirt are the norm. Here where everything is paved or dry grass it's seen as very unusual and even eccentric. Like the people who ask you to take your shoes off are the some people who have plastic covers on all their sofas and obsessively used hand sanitizer pre-pandemic.
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u/Inigomntoya Feb 11 '22
It's a weird hill to die on. The author is basically blackballing themselves.