vulpemarshmallow:

apeacebone:

bounddreamer:

eirenical:

halpahali:

eirenical:

embroideredcupcake:

officialleoneabbacchio:

sentochoryu:

ok so i know that one of the stereotypes about westerners is wearing shoes indoors but does anyone actually do that

i know my family doesn’t, and the houses of people i’ve visited don’t

same?

i always take my shoes off, and so does everyone in my family but like?

i guess a lot of ppl dont cause i have some friends who come over and Never Take Their Shoes Off and it makes me super uncomfortable b/c its like???

do you feel unsafe here??? am i making you uncomfortable??? is this an atmosphere you cant relax in???

idk i get weirdly distressed by it

I hate wearing shoes inside, but if I’m at a house I don’t know well, or if it’s a fancy party, or it’s cold I leave my shoes on.

If I’m visiting family, or if I know I’m going to be lounging on couches, or I’m asked to, I take them off.

It’s a bit weird to take your shoes off in someone’s house here, unless you’re specifically asked to. Feet aren’t seen as taboo or anything, just a little bit gross? And occasionally stinky. If you take your shoes off in someone’s house it’s showing you’re very very relaxed, and that wouldn’t be suitable at something like a dinner party.

New Yorker, here!  When I was growing up, there was exactly one house we had to take our shoes off at, because that friend’s mother was VERY fastidious about keeping her house clean.  Apart from that, most houses I’ve been to, everyone keeps their shoes on unless it’s a REALLY relaxed atmosphere and/or you’re going to be staying in the house for quite some time (i.e., 4-6 hours) – as in we’re going to have a sleepover and we all know we’re going to take our shoes off eventually, so why not?  I don’t think anyone even means anything by it?  But when I think about it, it’s like: your shoes are part of the outfit you put on that day, part of the process of getting dressed.  Therefore, taking your shoes OFF is part of getting UNdressed, if that makes sense?  Like, I wouldn’t take off my shirt or my pants at someone else’s house, so why would I take off my shoes?  If my host makes it clear that it’s expected to take off my shoes, then of course, I will, but otherwise, I assume that shoes stay on unless we’re like… settling in on the couch for a Lord of the Rings marathon.  But if THAT’S happening, then, odds are, pajamas are also involved, and there’s the sleepover no-shoes exception.  ^_~

@eirenical

Is New York some kind of magical land where there’s no mud/dirt/snow on the ground, because I don’t understand why people would track all that shite all over people’s floors.

Also, thinking about taking your shoes off being the same as taking off your pants or shirt is just alien to me, but I guess that’s culture differences for you. ^^;

Actually, come to think of it, maybe it is?  And that’s why we have doormats?  To wipe that stuff off your shoes when you come in the house? Like, if it’s been raining, mostly I’m still walking on cement.  So, my shoes might get wet, but they generally don’t get muddy.  So I dry them off on the doormat and into the house I go.  If my shoes are REALLY wet, like so soaked that drying them off on the mat isn’t possible, then yes, I will take them off.  And for snow, it’s the same basic thing.  Once everything is shoveled, the bottoms of your boots might get wet, but again, that’s what the mat is for.  If you are out shoveling, OTOH, then yeah, generally the snow boots come off when you come in the house because that’s way more wet than the mat can handle.

So, yeah, the weather just isn’t that extreme, usually?  And if it is, then yes you take your shoes off, but it has to be pretty extreme to warrant that.

Now, if you live somewhere where it’s routine to remove your shoes before entering a house, then I can see how the shoes = pants would be weird.  But around here, removing your shoes in someone’s house kind of implies a level of closeness/intimacy/relaxation that most people don’t generally feel unless they’re settling in for the long haul at a good friend’s house.  (i.e., I visited a good friend/ex-roommate a few weeks ago and the second we were in the house, we both kicked our shoes off… and changed into pajamas, got out our laptops and curled up on the couch for a Star Wars marathon.  ^_~)  So, yeah.  Cultural differences, indeed.  ^_^

I walk into the house with my shoes, but then I take them off as soon as I can. My parents had a mat by the door for shoes but we don’t really have space for that at my place near enough to the door. But I grew up taking my shoes off as soon as I came inside. This was consistent across two parental households.

Western Washington resident here. When I was growing up, maybe 50% of my friends’ houses had a take-your-shoes-off rule. My house did not, so it was normal for me to just wear shoes indoors. We did have doormats, one on each side of the door, actually, and were expected to scuff the soles of our shoes to clean them off before coming inside.

As an adult, though, I got in the habit of taking my shoes off when going inside. Almost all of my friends do the same at their own places. My brother is in the same habit as well, as far as I know, and got into it independently from me.

I grew up in Michigan and the shoes were always taken off at the door. It actually makes me vaguely uncomfortable to wear shoes indoors.

Pennsylvania here and it’s definitely considered weird to take your shoes off in someone else’s house unless you’ve been friends for so long that you’re practically family. Anything less than that and the shoes = pants thing is definitely true.