Outdoor shoes inside

We have always been use to removing our shoe when going indoors, its the expected in SE Asia as people often sit on the floor to eat.
Here in the UK we have a different eating culture and eat from the table but we have a sign on the door showing no shoes allowed. We find it keeps the house cleaner and its just something we are use to, I also remove my shoe when entering other peoples homes.

Cazzarl It must vary from house to house, as I never came across it as a child, or very much as an adult, apart from the party I mentioned (and yes, now I think of it the couple were a bit 'Hyacinth'). We were always taught to make guests feel at home, and my mum would never have implied that someone was dirty by asking them to remove their shoes, and the thought of people sitting around wearing shoe protectors is making me chortle. Are they like galoshes?

Strangely, my parents and grandparents all lived to ripe old ages (my mum is still with us, in fact), so maybe all the 'shoes encrusted with faeces' and 'urine-soaked footwear' they must have encountered built immunity .

When my children were teenagers I would often come in to find a pile of enormous trainers in the hall, as their friends had removed them, which is why I thought it was a more recent phenomenon.

I brought my children up to always take their shoes off in the kitchen before going into the house. Their friends always did the same from being very young. Their friends never needed asking as they did it in their own homes anyway. I can not understand why anyone would want the dirt from outside, inside on their floors and carpets??? Pavements have goodness knows what on them?!?! and don't get me started on all the mud from the fields and woods around us ha ha.

We used to sit in the garden and use old spoons to dig in the soil, sometimes adding water from an old cup ... to make MUD PIES.
?
It was great fun and we lived to tell the tale.

My children crawled around parks and playgrounds outside

Most harmful diseases arent transmitted via mud anyway...

It's not pleasant for a small child crawling round on the floor if it's dirty

Goodness, it’s a wonder so many of us older grans survived our childhoods.

And all this ‘allergy’ nowadays. Maybe better o be like us lot growing up, a peck of dirt did no harm - in fact it probably strengthened our immune systems.

@Doodledog you said 'I agree that this is a relatively new trend'
I don't think that it is a new trend.......when I lived at home with my mum, everyone took their shoes off if they came to our house, I'm talking about the early 1970's.
I'm so surprised how many people take offence to being asked to take their shoes off.
Nearly every house I have ever been to, I have been expected to take them off. As far as I'm concerned, it's normal and polite behaviour. Who wants dirty shoes being worn in the house, goodness knows what people have trod in and what germs are lurking. It's not pleasant for a small child crawling round on the floor if it's dirty.
I agree with a lot of posters that taking slippers with you to someone's house is a good idea. That's what most of my friends do when they come round to my house.

Love it grumppa!

In many countries it is very bad manners to go into a home without removing outdoor footwear

It is.
But not here in the U.K.
Let’s not conflate the issue to give it credence in this country.

Doormats are obviously doomed, so I am selling my shares in Turtle. However, I would be interested in going into partnership with a bright engineer who could devise small hoverplatforms that would elevate visitors to the house-proud sufficiently to preserve the wholesomeness of their floors.

Or bring back crossing-sweepers.

I was once asked not to sit on a cream sofa in new jeans as the colour would transfer!

pinkquartz where the floors are awash with poo or urine
Like the hospital my friend was just in?

I would definitely take rubber shoes into hospital with me!

Nannan2 Hyacinth was not at all posh!

She tried to be 'posh' but was just pretentious

The funniest thing is people thinking it’s ok to offer shoe or foot protectors!

really even for a serious health issue?

Yes my GP thinks it's a good idea and so do the nurses and the carers.
They can be arriving from a home where the floors are a wash with poo and urine you know.

To invite someone to your house without a warning that shoes may not be worn is the height of incivility.

the above is a joke yes?

I always send out a warning with the invite and ask for a RSVP.
Also I offer a choice of washed slippers or shoe covers.

nightsky2


yes of course you can have your opinion,
I would call it bad manners to override a need for health or feelings
In many countries it is very bad manners to go into a home without removing outdoor footwear.

just different POV's

Personally I think this is very sad.
Perhaps you might consider being honest with yourself.
There are millions of lonely people out there who would give their right arm to receive visitors, just for the company.

Cream carpets don't keep you warm at night. Nor when you have no one else to talk to...give you a hug, or a listening ear when you are down...

Which would you rather, soft furnishings or friends...

ptg

I cannot stand taking my shoes off but will take ballet flats or similar nice looking indoor shoes if warned. To invite someone to your house without a warning that shoes may not be worn is the height of incivility.

All the family know to take off outdoor shoes in my house and tradesmen are told pdq if they try leaving theirs on. My daughter is the same so I have slippers that I leave there. If going to a stranger’s house I would comply with their wishes whatever they were.

I agree with Oopsminty and Grandma 70’s.
This post is getting more hilarious and downright bizarre by the minute.
The funniest thing is people thinking it’s ok to offer shoe or foot protectors!
What kind of society have we created?

I've never thought of this before. I can't remember a time when I didn't take my shoes off. Mam insisted on it for the family but didn't expect others to do so and I've just followed suit. I can see her point for us children because we played on bomb sites and then later on building sites so the odds were that we were caked in mud. We were also expected to jump over the doorstep so that it didn't need to be donkey stoned as often but I don't remember visitors doing it.

Why on earth did you choose cream carpets??? Utterly impractical. You only have yourself to blame.

When I'm asked, I have no problem removing my shoes in someone's house. There is a lot of health information out there supporting the fact that street germs can be very bad for your health, especially because they get into house dust and you breath them in.
The practice of removing one's shoes indoors is becoming increasingly common in the US. To be preemptive, I just carry a pair of socks in my purse and as I said earlier, both DH and I have rubber soled moccasin slippers that look more like shoes.
Personally, I don't like to ask people to take their shoes off because I don't think they like it. My DH is immune compromised however, so I really have no choice. I do hope shoe removal becomes a 'thing' and then everyone will do it without having to be asked.

That is exactly the same as I do and think it’s the best solution. Outdoor shoes are exactly that, made to be worn outside, but I don’t insist they take them off. However, I do draw the line at trainers sometimes as those ridged soles pick up all sorts of dirt and retain it.

My young downstairs neighbour has wooden floors and wears heels at home, clack clack clack