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In your home: Shoes or no shoes?

Abstract

Abstract

macrumors Penryn
Original poster
Dec 27, 2002
24,905
944
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I just wanted to ask people here whether they wear shoes while at home?

I walked into a friends house for the first time, and when I tried to take off my shoes, my other friend (also visiting for the first time) said, "Hey man, she's not asian. We don't need to take our shoes off." He was right....we didn't have to take off our shoes!! I thought it made sense since I believe all Chinese people take off their shoes before walking into their house, and he knows how things work in Australia better than I do, but then I thought about "how we roll" in Canada. In Canada, I think everyone takes their shoes off before walking into their house. Well, most people do. It must have something to do with dragging snow into the house during winter. I think most Canadians just adopt that habit in the summer as well. I'm sure Australians don't have this problem with precipitation.

Anyway, is this a "white" and "asian" thing, a Canadian vs Australia thing, or just a difference you see between different households?
 
When my mother comes to visit she always leaves her shoes on, I want to say something, but she is my mother. Unless someone has very stinky feet they must remove their shoes. If they have stinky feet they must stand at the door only. I don't like having to clean up after dirty shoes. Also nothing is worse in winter then melting snow on a hardwood floor.
 
Barefoot in my apartment. Barefoot at my office too. I read a study which suggested that stress levels go down when you're barefoot. I also have trouble finding comfortable shoes because my feet are very wide--size 4E even feels a bit cramped. I wear sandals pretty much anytime I need shoes, unless I'm dressed up (I have a very comfortable pair of dress shoes) or playing a sport. Even in the rain, I wear shoes. It rains a lot here in western Oregon.
 
well if its been raining/snowing. shoes off for everyone. if not then its not a huge deal at all.

personally i walk around my house shoeless as much as possible.
 
When I get home it's shoes off and "house slippers" on, usually some kind of slipper or sandal.

The concept of shoes off in the house was strange to me at first but with so many Asian friends it now seems normal to me.
 
Abstract said:
I just wanted to ask people here whether they wear shoes while at home?

*snip snip snip*

Anyway, is this a "white" and "asian" thing, a Canadian vs Australia thing, or just a difference you see between different households?
Click to expand...

Some of it is from various asian cultures. It's very rude to wear shoes in the house in Thailand as it is in Indonesia, and I'm sure in other places. When your shoes are off it's a sign of respect. I take off my shoes in most houses, and at my house/apt, everyone must b/c it makes cleaning so much easier.
 
Abstract said:
...
Anyway, is this a "white" and "asian" thing
...
Click to expand...
Here in Japan, of course, they come off. It's labelled a 'cultural thing', but it's really because the Japanese have a keen sense of cleanliness. Just as an American would be appalled if someone crimped one off on their carpet, Japanese would be appalled if you walked the pavement crap off on their floor. To me now it's perfectly natural and makes pefect sense. Like not getting in a bath until after you've washed, as opposed to getting in the bath and sitting around in your own filth. The Asians have just worked it out, in my opinion. Maybe compelled by the climate, too. When I go home to England it's shoes off everywhere and showers only.

They wear slippers in many offices here, too. I don't think I could wear shoes all day now.
 
in my house- shoes or no shoes, i really don't care.
but a couple of my friends are pretty strict about taking off shoes when you go into their house.
 
No shoes in my apartment. When people come in, I (politely) remind them to take their shoes off. Except for my dad, he never takes his shoes off when he comes inside, and he used to get mad at me for not wearing them around the house (because it took longer to leave if we left to go somewhere) so in the interest of not arguing, I don't ask him to take them off. It does annoy me the whole time he's walking around my apartment though.

I lived in Japan for a while, and I'm not sure that's where I picked it up, but I really hate wearing shoes inside. However, once when I was at a friend of a friend's house I was rather put off by the friend's little brother (couple years younger than me) rudely telling me to take my shoes off when I stepped one step inside the house. I was there doing a favor for the family, even though I didn't know them simply because my friend asked me to help*. The family is Korean, and while I understand and am sensitive to the Asian cultural background for removing one's shoes inside, we don't live in Asia, I'm not Asian, and being rude is not an appropriate response. When I was in Japan, I would not have similarly complained (when in Rome and all that).

*Perhaps worth noting that the kid continued to whine and complain that his bathroom was out of service and why were we taking so long for the next couple hours while two strangers and a friend of his sibling's were doing free plumbing repair for his family.
 
It's cultural and regional. In certain cultures there's a notion of respect, and in certain regions your shoes are often muddy or wet.

I'm a shoes-off kind of guy, but I have hardwood floors so I'm not picky when it comes to guests.
 
Wow, there really are a lot of people who wear shoes inside. It's like a different, and very unnatural world for me. I really can't imagine walking around in my shoes in my own house.

I did have one friend whose family wore shoes in their house. They had tile flooring. When I asked them why they would do that (I was 10 years old and shocked at the time....), he told me, "Why would I walk around barefoot? The floor is dirty." Of course the floor is dirty....you're walking around the house in your shoes!!
 
Just about everyone I know (Asian or no) is shoes off in their home, except for a few who have pets, in which case they don't mind. Most people also don't seem to mind if you're just popping through, i.e. to get to the backyard or to grab something quick.

In my house, I sometimes walk around in shoes on the first floor (tile) but they come off before coming up the carpeted stairs to the second floor (carpet, tile and hardwood). It's all in the name of efficiency, if it would take too long to take 'em off and put 'em back on again in relation to what I need to be in the house for, like if I forgot to turn off the AC or grab a key from upstairs.
 
erickkoch said:
When I get home it's shoes off and "house slippers" on, usually some kind of slipper or sandal.

The concept of shoes off in the house was strange to me at first but with so many Asian friends it now seems normal to me.
Click to expand...

I'm with erickkoch. It's flip-flops for "house slippers" at home for me here. By the way, flip-flops are known as "Hawaiian chappals" here in India.

It's a cultural thing to an extent. Over here, it's considered rude to keep your shoes on when entering someone else's home.
 
Why would you want to wear outside shoes inside your home?

All kinds of dirt and such are on your shoes. Bringing this into your home. No thank you.
 
We have house shoes. I prefer to protect my feet in the house so I have slippers and such that have never been outside. Outside shoes cannot be worn in the house.
 
I'm a shoes off kind of guy, and most of my friends are too. But I'm not strict about it as long as they clean there shoes well on my doormat. I figure if someone doesn't want to take there shoes off, there's probably a good reason.
 
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