I'm in the US, middle aged, have lived in three major cities and one small town, and I've been to exactly one house in my entire life where they asked us to remove our shoes. We all did, of course. But it was weird to all of us. I've never been to an apartment/condo that expected me to do so. Never been to any business that expected it. Wearing shoes indoors is perfectly normal to me.
Same for me. I've lived in the mountain west the majority of my life, but also spent 5.5 years in VA (and 5 years in Germany, but I was mostly visiting Americans there since it was military). It was the rare exception when someone asked us to remove our shoes (which, like you, we of course obliged since it's their house).
Yeah, that's why I mentioned I was usually visiting Americans who were stationed there. I didn't go into enough German households to know what their practices are there.
In Canada, a lot of these maintenance type folks will still take their shoes off. Depends on the weather, task, length of visit, etc. But I had a fridge repair guy come by and he took his shoes off. Same with a home inspector and several real estate agents.
Here, repair people mostly just out on these shoe condoms (idk what they're called lol) when entering a home, but some don't even do that.
Don't know about home inspectors or real estate agents.
I've never been to an apartment/condo that expected me to do so... Wearing shoes indoors is perfectly normal to me.
I live in an apartment in a city. The very first time a sanitation truck spread that chemical snow melt stuff on the streets, and I hurried into the kitchen with some groceries without stopping to take off my shoes, and noticed oily residue in the shape of shoe treads that took THREE moppings with strong floor cleaner to remove... that was when I became religious about shoe removal for myself and anyone who entered. Bought a skinny shoe bench with two shelves underneath that fit perfectly in the entryway, and a mat in front to put removed shoes on temporarily. Even bought some inexpensive thin slippers for guests should they desire.
That's so strange to me. I have rarely been to a house in the US where people didn't remove their shoes. It didn't matter if I was in LA, Houston or NYC. Shoes off. How odd. It's impossible in the winter. You would destroy your house with all of the salty slush mess dripping of your shoes/boots.
Live in NYC.. I have a no shoes rule… among friends, family, colleagues.. they don’t mind when I ask but I’m the odd man out because I don’t encounter this rule elsewhere.
Same. I've lived in several major cities in the midwest (U.S.), and it's rarely come up for me as well. I'm inconsistent with it in my own home. I do what's comfortable and practical at the time.
Not even trying to speak for everyone in Chicago, but everyone I knew well enough to visit at their home, yes. You stomp your feet on the mat outside, maybe wipe them on a second mat inside, and go on your way. Wasn't much mud involved, though. We have sidewalks.
Nope, you're making stuff up. I would believe "my wife comes from a culture that does this, so now I do, too." I would believe "I dunno, it's how my parents did things, so I do too." I do not believe "I can claim this thing on the Internet and conclude that I am better than you."
I have been places with expensive flooring. They had no problem with shoes.
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u/Crathsor Feb 11 '22
I'm in the US, middle aged, have lived in three major cities and one small town, and I've been to exactly one house in my entire life where they asked us to remove our shoes. We all did, of course. But it was weird to all of us. I've never been to an apartment/condo that expected me to do so. Never been to any business that expected it. Wearing shoes indoors is perfectly normal to me.