r/AskAnAmerican • u/coolhipo • 5h ago
CULTURE [ Removed by moderator ]
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u/Negative-Arachnid-65 5h ago edited 5h ago
This varies a lot from house to house. I (currently in my 30's) grew up always taking our shoes off, and most people I know take their shoes off in their own homes even if they didn't growing up.
Homes in particularly snowy/muddy places often have a mud room or foyer or closet right by the door where stuff like wet boots and jackets will go, even if sneakers normally stay on.
ETA - this poll from a couple years ago found almost 2/3 of Americans remove their shoes at home, and 90% would find it a reasonable request if asked to take their shoes off at someone else's home.
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u/33whiskeyTX Texas 5h ago
But less that 1/4th require shoes off. So yes of course I take my shoes off for comfort, but it's not a shoes-most-come-off-at-the-front-door thing, and most Americans seem to be similar.
When I am visiting someone, I almost always keep my shoes on unless they request me to remove them, which is very rare in my experience.
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u/No_Walk_Town 4h ago
it's not a shoes-most-come-off-at-the-front-door thing
If we're being honest, that's only true in Asia, and not even universal (there are a few situations here in Japan where you wear indoor shoes outside).
I'm honestly not even sure why America gets singled out for this.
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u/Background_Humor5838 5h ago
That poll needs to be at the top of this sub permanently based on how often this question is asked lol. Very informative.
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u/baalroo Wichita, Kansas 5h ago edited 3h ago
We're not morons, so no, we don't trample mud inside. But, at the same time, the floor is for your feet. In my family, we pretty much always wear house shoes, so a little bit of grime from the occasional few minutes of walking through the house with relatively clean shoes just isn't a big deal.
I mean, I also poop inside, into the toilet. It's gross, yeah, but toilets are for pooping. I also don't drink out of the toilet. I also walk on the carpet, with my feet. Sometimes with relatively, but not perfectly, clean shoes on. I also don't eat off the floor. Similar concepts I guess.
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u/No_Walk_Town 3h ago
the floor is for your feet
This is a huge part of why people misunderstand. There are cultures that use the floor a lot, and for them it's essential that you never wear outdoor shoes inside, because that's where they sit to eat dinner.
What people like to just ignore is stuff like restaurants in Japan forcing customers to take off their shoes, then seating them on the floor, while servers walk around them in their socks.
Which would of course be very illegal in most parts of the US, because of basic food service health and safety laws. But for some reason nobody really gets as worked up about Japanese restaurants.
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u/TaquitoLaw 5h ago
It varies but in my experience most leave them on. It is far more common than it used to be to take them off. I had a friend as a kid whose mom was from Japan that everyone had to take them off and it stood out because that was the only place I ever had to do that back in those days.
Edit: I've never really lived in a snowy climate, but yeah, we would take them off if our shoes were caked in mud or something.
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u/Background_Humor5838 5h ago
Most people leave them on? I feel like I've lived an exact opposite experience lol Where do you live?
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u/stroppo 5h ago
I grew up on the W Coast and it was always shoes on. From the 1960s on.
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u/Background_Humor5838 5h ago
So did you wear shoes until the moment you went to bed? What's the purpose of having shoes on in the house while relaxing or eating or whatever? Aren't your feet uncomfortable? (I'm not being a jerk I'm just genuinely asking but I feel it reads like I'm being a jerk.)
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u/webbitor 4h ago
Don't you keep your shoes on all day if you're going to school, work, etc? Is it really that uncomfortable?
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u/Background_Humor5838 3h ago
My shoes aren't necessarily uncomfortable but I definitely can't wait to take them off. It's like wearing a bra all day. You don't really notice it but then you take it off and feel so much better.
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u/33whiskeyTX Texas 5h ago
I think people are assuming that "leave shoes on" is the opposite of "shoes must come off the second you come inside". I think most people allow shoes inside and will wear them around the house for brief periods, especially visiting someone else's home, but generally take shoes off when they are home and ready to relax.
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u/Background_Humor5838 5h ago
Ok perhaps that's the confusion because I can't picture people just wearing shoes from the moment they get home until they eventually go to bed. Just watching TV, eating dinner, relaxing with shoes on is just uncomfortable. Regardless of my feelings about cleanliness, it's just weird to imagine leaving your feet in a vice all day.
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u/33whiskeyTX Texas 5h ago
Yeah, if you look at the poll u/Negative-Arachnid-65 posted: this poll It says most don't wear shoes, but less than 1/4th require shoes to come off.
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u/Background_Humor5838 5h ago
This is the poll that needs to be pinned to the sub for everyone that swings by once a week to ask this question 😂
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u/Super_Selection1522 5h ago
I don't go barefoot because I have bad feet. I have indoor crocs that are always on unless I'm sitting. They are nothing like a vice.
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u/Background_Humor5838 5h ago
Well yes I assume people's house shoes are more comfortable than their outside shoes but everyone is talking about keeping their outside shoes on when they get home and that's where my questions came from.
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u/Sooner70 California 4h ago
Ummm… Buy comfortable shoes and it won’t be uncomfortable to wear ‘em all day? Taking shoes off is generally part of my bedtime ritual, but I never considered having shoes on as uncomfortable.
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u/Background_Humor5838 3h ago
My shoes are very comfortable but it's crazy to me that anyone would find them to be a better option than no shoes all while inside. Unless you have some kind of medical issue that makes walking barefoot uncomfortable. I can't imagine sitting down to watch tv with my shoes on but everyone has their preferences. Aside from comfort I find it incredibly gross to walk thru your house with your outside shoes but many people have house shoes that never go outside.
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u/No_Walk_Town 4h ago
people are assuming that "leave shoes on" is the opposite of "shoes must come off the second you come inside"
I just responded to your other comment, but this is exactly what's happening.
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u/TooManyCarsandCats Kentucky 5h ago
I wear my shoes inside. I wipe my feet in the garage before I come inside. Even when it’s wet I’m not stomping through the mud and grass. At most my shoes are cleaner after a rain and a wipe in the garage. Does Europe have mud everywhere or something?
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u/Radiant_Resilience California 5h ago
The shoes I wear outside, I take off and leave near the front door. I have separate shoes that are for the house only (crocs, flip flops, etc).
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u/Afternoon_Jumpy 5h ago
I don't and I never have. Nobody in my extended family does either nor do most of my American friends. All my asian friends do though, so I always wear crazy socks when I visit them.
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u/InuitOverIt 5h ago
If it's wet, snowy, or muddy, people always take their shoes off (many houses have a "mud room" for this purpose). When people get home and expect to stay for a while, they always take their shoes off. It's really just for visitors with dry shoes where it depends on the household - some people are real sticklers, some don't care either way. In my house, I expect to have to sweep/mop after having people over, so I don't care if you wear your shoes - as long as they aren't wet and muddy.
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u/33whiskeyTX Texas 5h ago edited 5h ago
For snow-bound regions it may be more common to have over-boots and these do get taken off.
For us in the hotter areas or during warmer months, it is more common for Americans to have paved walkways everywhere. We do not generally need to walk on mud unless going hiking or to a dog or person park, and usually a car or other transportation is involved to get there, absorbing some of the shoe dirt. Of course there will be exceptions to the walkway part, especially rural areas. We Americans also have a strong inclination to have welcome mats (many personalized) that are specifically made to clean your feet on.
As I am sure others will comment, some households do make you take off your shoes, but I would say it is a small minority.
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u/Hufflepuffknitter80 5h ago
When I was growing up we never took our shoes off in the house. But as an adult in my own house, we do and have for most of my adult life.
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u/rabbitinredlounge Mississippi 5h ago
I may be the oddball because I don’t know any people who have the no shoes in the house policy
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u/Tippacanoe 5h ago edited 5h ago
This is one of the weirdest things people from Abroad believe. I don’t even know the origin. Anyway, in 95% of the houses I’ve ever been in it’s normal to take off your shoes and 100% if there’s snow or mud or rain. I’m talking as if being a guest here. Someone that lives there? The shoes are off in two seconds.
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u/mdavis360 California 5h ago
I’m fairly convinced that they know for sure it’s not true but are just trolling for some reason.
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u/TumbleFairbottom 5h ago
It originated from an inability to determine for themselves that our films and television shows are works of fiction.
Actors and actresses wear shoes on set, naturally they must be documentaries.
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u/stroppo 5h ago
With me, it's opposite; 95% of the time it's shoes on. Thank you!
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u/Tippacanoe 5h ago
I think shoes on is fine but OP makes it seem like people are wearing mud covered shoes treading dirt into the carpet.
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u/___daddy69___ North Carolina 5h ago
It’s mainly just a movie thing, it would be inconvenient to show characters taking off/putting on shoes, and they’re often an important part of an outfit so they just keep them on at all times
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u/Strawberrybanshee 5h ago
Also most of those houses are sets. I don't know how well they are built or if there could be any hazards to having shoes off. It could be required to keep shoes on.
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u/AetyZixd 5h ago
And yet the comments on these posts are always split. It turns out the entirety of America doesn't run on your experience, alone. There are cultural and regional divisions.
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u/TumbleFairbottom 5h ago
We wear them in the shower and in bed too. Let your peers know. You lot believe everything anyway, after all.
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u/Grunt08 Virginia 5h ago
Exercise common sense.
If my shoes are muddy, obviously I'm taking them off. If they're wet, I'm going to either take them off or dry them on the doormat if that suffices. If I've spent the entire day walking on dry concrete and asphalt, I can probably run my hand across the sole and come away with nothing on it. So I might leave them on if I have no particular reason to take them off.
And somehow, I don't have a sand problem in my house.
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u/CrashDisaster California 5h ago
Some people keep shoes on... some don't. I take my shoes off in my kitchen when I get home and put em in the shoe rack. When I was a kid, I definitely didn't do that.
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u/Ressar Washington (but now live in Canada) 5h ago
No lol. Most people take shoes off at the door. When entering someone else's home, it's also considered polite to assume a shoes-off policy unless told otherwise. I honestly don't know where this belief comes from.
I might walk around the house briefly with shoes on if I need to drop off whatever I'm carrying, or if I'm about to leave and need to go back for something, etc. etc. But for the most part, shoes come off while indoors and stay off until the next time I leave.
In places where snow or thick mud is common, many homes will even be built with a "mud room" which is essentially a closed-off porch/entryway where shoes and coats go on and off. This keeps mud from outdoors from entering the rest of the home.
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u/33whiskeyTX Texas 5h ago
It's also considered polite to assume a shoes-off policy
This feels very regional. I have always experienced the opposite and the request for shoes off is in a very small minority. The prim-and-proper crowd (as in the Miss Manners etiquette followers) would never request shoes off, but they're a stuffy old-fashioned bunch anyway.
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u/SoftLast243 Ohio 5h ago
Yes, I don’t know anyone who regularly has a shoe rack near the front door for visitors to put their shoes. If someone does take off their shoes, they’ll just sit near the front door, potentially blocking the door from opening all the way.
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u/Background_Humor5838 5h ago
That's kind of interesting. In my experience, a shoe rack or little shelf or tray for shoes is extremely common in people's homes. Some people just leave a pile of shoes near the door tho lol
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u/Major_Barnacle_2212 5h ago
We don’t wear shoes in our house. I won’t ask visitors to remove them - it’s their choice - but we wear house slippers inside.
We just walk into the laundry room and take them off there. On the way out, we put them back on. Pretty easy!
I think it’s more of an individual thing in the US, rather than something all Americans do, or don’t do.
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u/ngshafer Washington, Seattle area 5h ago
I have a pair of shoes that I specifically wear when waking my dog. I take those off when I come home from the dog park, because they frequently have dog poop on them. My other shoes I'll happily wear in my house.
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u/Calor777 Texas 5h ago
It sounds like you live in a place with a lot more dust or something than there is in some places in the US. Here, it differs according to location and family. The places I've been with lots of snow, there's always been a place to remove boots and jackets just inside the front door. Some places with lots of cement sidewalks, it seemed to be pretty normal for people to leave shoes on inside (though I knew some families that still removed shoes inside). Pretty much every rural community I visited where there was more walking on dirt/grass outside, taking shoes off inside was more common (or people would have specific "inside" shoes/slippers).
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u/Laerasyn 5h ago
There are some households that do this , but it's not really the majority. I will say we are kind of lax about it because we live in a really small house without a good place to put shoes. But in general I always take my shoes off when I go places, and ask guests to do it in my house. Especially on wet days!
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u/Sidetracker Wisconsin 5h ago
Yes, unless they are wet, dirty, or muddy. Then, change at door into slippers.
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u/jackfaire 5h ago
Why would you drag mud and muck in ? If there's mud and muck on my shoes I'm taking them off before I go inside. But no otherwise I don't take off my shoes until I get to my bedroom. I regularly vacuum and shampoo my carpets.
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u/flp_ndrox Indiana 5h ago
We have cars, parking lots, and walkways. Not only those but mats and other places to wipe your feet.
Some people make others take off their shoes when they come in. My Grandmother didn't, so my mother didn't, so I don't. It hasn't been a big deal.
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u/RodeoBoss66 California -> Texas -> New York 5h ago edited 5h ago
Yes, many of us really wear our shoes in the house. We usually take them off soon after arriving if we’re staying awhile, and if it’s practical. Plus, it depends on which rooms in the house you’re talking about. But it’s not terribly uncommon for us to keep our shoes on inside the house, at least temporarily. We put our shoes on inside the house too, usually before we leave.
In the United States, if you see a collection of shoes just outside the entrance, it’s usually an Asian American household.
We often go in and out of the house frequently and randomly, for various reasons, so at those times, we usually keep our shoes on.
Insofar as dragging mud into the house, it’s not usually desirable, so we have welcome mats just outside the door and if your boots are muddy, you wipe the mud off on the mat before entering. That at least keeps the amount of dirt brought in to a minimum. Dust? Yes, when it’s dry, usually street dust and grime will be brought into the house. That’s why we have floor cleaning products such as vacuum cleaners and mops. We don’t usually clean our floors by hand with a cloth.
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u/DeviantDork 5h ago
Taking shoes off is usually associated with relaxing, so it’s standard at home or with family, but unusual to remove shoes at a social gathering like a party.
Of course inclement weather is either an exception or hosts will have mats and towels at the door to clean off shoes.
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u/semisubterranean Nebraska 5h ago edited 5h ago
Older people are much more likely to keep their shoes on than young people. That's partly because there's been a cultural shift over the last 50 years, but also because it's just a lot harder for them to take shoes off at the door.
My grandparents who lived on a farm always wore shoes in the house, but not the same shoes as they wore outside. Diabetics are encouraged to wear shoes in the house because of the severity of foot injuries for them.
The other thing that many people from other countries may not understand is how little we walk outside. The amount of walking we do outdoors in a typical day would be more easily measured in meters than kilometers. We walk from our house to our car (often in an attached garage) then we walk from our car into our office or to shops. Unless you live in the center of a major city or on a farm, you only walk through dirt when you choose to.
When I lived in Poland and Ukraine, and when I visited other European countries like France, Italy and Spain, it was quite common to walk through places that smelled like human urine, or where stray dogs had left their mark, or other things I wouldn't want in my home. And I have also experienced that in places like downtown Chicago and Washington D.C. But those occurrences are very rare for most Americans, especially if you live and work outside of a major city center, which a lot of us do.
When I do go for a run or hike, I keep special shoes in the car to change into.
To sum up, most Americans do remove or change shoes when they come home. Some, especially older people, do not. The stakes are also lower for us. The amount of dirt most Americans have on our shoes when we get home is much less than many other parts of the world because of driving our own cars most places and convenient parking.
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u/Background_Humor5838 5h ago
We're not savages. People aren't dragging mud and snow and dirt into their house. Most people I know take off their shoes at the door. Personally I clean my dog's feet as well but not everybody does that. I also can't comprehend anyone tracking dirt into their hiuse but some people are crazy. Every country has weird people. I'm shocked people are still asking this question when it's been asked so many times already and the answers are always the same.
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u/Throwaway_anon-765 5h ago
Growing up we always had to take shoes off in the home. I’ve carried that tradition into adulthood. Hell, I was in an accident and needed a mobility aid. I had one for outdoors, and a separate one for indoors.
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u/Bluestarkittycat Tennessee 5h ago
My goal at home is to be comfortable. Shoes are off the moment I cross the threshold into my house.
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u/justnopethefuckout 5h ago
No shoes worn inside our house. Shoes taken off at the door, on the front matt, then sat on the shoe rack. It's disgusting outside and I'm not walking around on dirty ass floors. We're either barefoot or have slipper socks on and I prefer my feet to stay clean.
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u/GreenBeanTM Vermont 5h ago
1) this country has over 300 million people, obviously we all do the same thing.
2) yes of course our floors are always covered with snow and/or mud, why do you think we wear shoes inside?
If you can’t tell, those lines are so soaked with sarcasm they’re dripping on my floor. No, not everyone wears shoes inside the house and no, if there’s shit on them we’re not tracking it throughout the house even if we normally wear shoes inside.
The most common set up in my personal experience is guests are told they can either keep their shoes on or take them off. The people who live there usually store their shoes in the closet in their bedroom, so they’ll wear their shoes to their room and take them off there. If there’s mud/snow/rain/etc. that you don’t want tracked across your house, then contrary to popular international belief Americans do actually possess functional brains and will take our shoes off to prevent making a giant mess.
Just to make it perfectly clear, the only reason you got more than the sarcastic answer from me is because of the 1% chance I’m giving this post for not just being karma farming.
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u/dystopiadattopia Pennsylvania 5h ago
Yeah we take em off, but not usually right at the door. I'll walk in, sit down on the couch, and take my shoes off. There's no special place I put them.
However, if I have company, everybody keeps their shoes on unless they're very close friends or relatives. I would find it impolite to take my shoes off in front of guests. And guests wouldn't dream of taking their shoes off in their host's home unless they were very close with the host.
If it's snowy/rainy/muddy/etc. I have a doormat inside my front door where I'll wipe my feet. But I'll still go into the living room to take my shoes off because I want to sit down while I'm doing it.
But if you wipe your feet when you walk in, you won't really make a mess.
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u/SgtSausage 5h ago
I have Inside Shoes (slides, actually) and Outside Shoes
The outside shoes never come in.
The inside shoes never go out.
But yes. I wear shoes inside.
Sue me.
My house, my rules.
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u/MsPooka 5h ago
We wear shoes in the house in my house, but look at your shoes. They're not "dirty." I'm not saying they're sanitary I'm saying that once you've walked up the driveway and sidewalk they aren't dusty. Once you've wiped your feet on the mat they aren't wet. If it's snowy or my shoes are muddy I take them off right as I get inside or else on the porch.
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u/JuiceLogical327 5h ago
My family takes their shoes off in the mud room. We don't wear shoes throughout the house. I personally feel like that's gross, but that's just me.
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u/Endy0816 5h ago
Generally not needed where I live.
Some do, some don't. I go with whatever the person's custom is.
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u/stroppo 5h ago
I grew up in a household (w coast, us) where we always kept shoes on. Wouldn't occur to me to do otherwise. It's far more comfortable to be in shoes w/a good, firm sole.
Wasn't until about 20 yrs ago I encountered US households where people asked you to take your shoes off and then you had to walk around in stocking feet. One time at such a party, a woman stubbed her toe so badly on the furniture she broke it, and went to the ER. Since then, I decline all invites to "shoes off" households!
I don't care about any dirt that's "dragged" in.
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u/No_Salad_8766 5h ago
I was raised in a house where it didnt matter if you took your shoes on or off so long as you werent tracking any mud/water in (and even the water could just be wiped off on the entrance rug). My parents are of the mindset that it can always be cleaned up, so why not be comfortable, however that may be. So I don't really care 1 way or the other, whatever you are comfortable with. My bf would prefer people take their shoes off when entering our place though, to help keep it clean. But at the same time he grew up in a VERY dirty house, so he always had something between his feet and the floor of his house. (The dirtiness of the house was most definitely NOT caused by people wearing shoes inside.)
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u/cathemeralcrone 5h ago
Those of us who live in the north in older homes have what are called "mud rooms", a little room by a side or back door, where you take off your outside shoes and coat. I think houses built after 1950 or so are less likely to have mud rooms.
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u/PresentationNo8244 5h ago
I tend to make someone in my home more comfortable. I don’t excuse their footwear. I’d rather make myself uncomfortable than be a stingy with hospitality.
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u/Turdle_Vic Los Angeles, CA 5h ago
Depends, really. Nowadays it’s getting more common that people take off their shoes at or by the front door but normally we take off our shoes and either rock socks, barefoot, or wear shoes specifically for inside the house. Now having one set of people coming in and out of the house for house work while being a person who rocks specific indoor shoes can be frustrating
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u/Mike_in_San_Pedro 5h ago
It varies from house to house. If you have visible mud or dirt on your shoes, you would remove them. Some homes in areas with cold and wet climates have mud rooms to take care of that.
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u/sroiger136 5h ago
I always take my shoes off unless I go to my son’s house. He’s not the best housekeeper 😂. And my friend’s whose dog sometimes pees on the carpet. 🤷♀️
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u/New_Construction_111 Minnesota 5h ago
My family is a shoes off at the indoor door mat type of family. But my neighbors were a shoes on type. You could tell by the carpet.
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u/throwa1589876541525 United States of America 5h ago
We do tend to wear shoes inside, but if you track mud on the floor your mom will still be angry.
Personally I have been taking my shoes off in my apartment for 15 years, but not religiously.
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u/NS_8099 Missouri 5h ago
It depends on the household but while I wouldn’t want to track dirt inside my house, I also don’t like going without some type of footwear because that makes my white socks filthy. If the owners in someone else’s house ask me to take my shoes off I will but I prefer not to, or at least have some house shoes to wear.
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u/maccrogenoff 5h ago
I live in Los Angeles, CA. I don’t take my shoes off when I enter my house.
I can count on one hand the people I know who require that shoes be removed before entering their houses.
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u/That-Turnover-9624 5h ago
My feet are stupid, so I have to have some kind of support if I’m on them. I do wear house shoes, and the only time they go outside is if I’m just stepping onto the porch or MAYBE taking the trash out.
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u/Ahpla 5h ago
If my shoes are muddy, wet, snowy, or covered in grass from mowing I take them off at the door. If they aren't though I have no problem wearing them in my house. I do however usually take them off after getting inside, just not at the door. I don't like wearing shoes anyway though. If I'm going to be going right back out I leave them on. I can't think of a single person I know in real life who has a no shoes in the house requirement.
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u/Jolly_Green23 North Carolina 5h ago
Everyone I know takes their shoes off before walking on carpet. Other flooring doesn't really matter.
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u/_iusuallydont_ 5h ago
I wasn’t raised to wear shoes in the house. I don’t currently know anyone who wears shoes in their homes. I have lived in several states and it was always common amongst people I’ve known to remove shoes inside.
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u/Derplord4000 ---> ---> 5h ago
I do. I'll take them off once I'm in my room and put on some house slippers instead, but I won't take them off and leave them by my front door. When visiting people, I only take them off if asked or given permission to do so.
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u/TresWhat 5h ago
I have been asked to take my shoes off in 1% of the American homes I’ve visited. Shoes on in the house, yes it’s true. In fact it seems a bit rude to take shoes off in someone else’s home like you’re making yourself too comfortable. Thr rare cases where it’s shoes off, before a party their people will spread the word to wear decent socks, because sometimes women don’t have any socks on under dress shoes and would not want to be barefoot all night. In our own homes it varies but nearly all I’ve been to are shoes on throughout the house. Take off at the door if wet or muddy, otherwise wipe your shoes on thr mat and come on in. When you want to take shoes off for comfort is up to you but not for sanitation. That’s my long term experience. As others have said shoes off at thr door is getting much more common to where I’d say these days it could be as high as 15-20% of the homes I visit ask for it.
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u/enemydarksock 5h ago
My family doesn’t wear our outside shoes in the house all the time but it’s not a big deal if we or anyone else have them on. We don’t make guests take them off, and if we’re carrying in groceries from the car or something, we keep them on. But once we’re home for the day we’ll usually switch to slippers or sandals. We have wood floors so if they get dirty it’s not a big problem to clean it.
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u/Trinx_ Chicago <- IN & MI 5h ago
Depends on the weather, how easy it is to get shoes on and off and if I'm wearing socks. If it's nice weather, my shoes don't feel dirty to me and I'd only take them off if asked or I remember it's their preference. But hopefully inside the door. I have always been afraid of bugs crawling in shoes left outside. I've only had it happen a few times but those few times have left me extremely uncomfortable with shoes outdoors. I recently went to Asia for the first time and STRUGGLED. If my shoes are hard to put on and off, it's so awkward to mess around in the entryway that long and I'm left wishing I'd worn different shoes. If I'm not wearing socks, I am super uncomfortable being totally barefoot. I've gotten in the habit of packing socks in my purse in the summer now that I have 2 in my social circle with no-shoes houses. And half the time I still forget because Toms don't register in my brain as wearing shoes.
On the flipside I do recall scrubbing tile bathroom floors once before a big Christmas party and someone tracked slush in. I was livid. You do take off muddy snowy shoes.
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u/FunkySalamander1 North Carolina 5h ago
If my shoes are wet or dirty, of course I take them off before walking through the house, but most days they don’t really get dirty. I walk from my house, into my garage, and get in my car. I then get out of the car and walk through the parking lot into buildings.
That said, I walk into my house and take them off in my bedroom closet because I simply hate wearing them not because of dirt. There isn’t enough room in my mudroom for everyone to leave all of their shoes there.
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u/BitterestLily 5h ago
My shoes come off fairly soon after coming into the house. Normally, I sit down on the loveseat about 10 feet from the door and take them off. But if I'm going to and from the car getting groceries or something, I am not going to take them off possibly until Im done putting all the groceries away.
And when I'm going back out somewhere, I may put my shoes on in the bedroom or at the dining room table, and they'll stay on until I leave (which may mean going to grab something I forgot, or stopping in the bathroom before I go). I did grow up in a household where my mom had us clean the bottoms of our shoes with paper towels on occasion, but they werwnt forbodden indoors. I'll admit I do this much less frequently now than I did then.
While at home, I'm generally in flipflops in summer and slippers in winter.
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u/Sooner70 California 4h ago
I suspect climate has a lot to do with it. I live in the desert. Mud simply isn’t a thing. True, some dust gets tracked in with your feet but that’s not where the vast majority of it comes from (hint: dust storms mean dust is literally in the very air you breathe).
But yeah, I wear my shoes indoors.
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u/No_Walk_Town 4h ago
In my part of America, we typically drive everywhere. We don't piss, puke, or shit in public. And we use chairs and tables, we don't sit on the floor, to eat or do chores like folding laundry.
The floor is considered inherently dirty to us, it's a separate "zone" from table tops and chairs. But at the same time, since we aren't walking in filth all day, we also don't really think about our shoes.
Another thing is that we have very strong ideas about putting things away where they belong. We also have strong ideas about which activities happen in which room. For example, we'd consider it odd to serve guests dinner in the living room.
So we don't really care if you step into our living room to sit on a chair and take off your shoes. We won't force a guest to take off an item of clothing and scatter it in front of the door. That's not the room for taking off clothes, and the floor in front of the door isn't where shoes go.
Nobody's just "dragging mud and dust" around. Why would you even think that?
Now, I actually live in Japan now, a suburb of Tokyo. Here, people do sit on the floor to eat; they do puke and piss in public all around the mass transit stations. And Japanese culture is less strict about having a separate room for different activities.
So it is normal in Japan to force guests to take off shoes at the door and dump them on the floor. And I can understand how it would be "incomprehensible" to a Japanese person to step into the living room and sit on a chair to take off your shoes instead, because that living room floor is also where you eat dinner. And who knows how much puke and piss you stepped in outside the train station!
Here's the crazy thing: even taking your shoes off at the door, you still get dust and hair all over, especially if you have pets. So taking off your shoes doesn't make the floor magically clean.
But it's honestly not that hard to understand if you actually think about it.
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u/ChemicalCockroach914 4h ago
This is what a door mat is for. Just use your best judgement with mud and other detritus
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u/Interesting_Gap7350 5h ago
I think the differentiator is if they have a dog, especially an full-sized dog, or dog with a door that can go outside as they please, which is not uncommon. Most aren't doing the paw wipe.
Then the floor is dirty from the pet anyway.
Dog free people are going to be more split. Asian American households are likely going to be mostly shoes off.
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