Yes. Yes, you are. 
I would love to get into the shoes off in house thing, but this really isn’t the place, unless Priceguy want his thread to be about nothing but that now.
Oh, absolutely.
Sorry, with “around these parts” I meant that in a very “general social expectations” kind of way. In this multi-cultural city, it’s very common for people to have to let each other know about more specific cultural expectations and it’s not considered rude to educate a guest visiting a home that has cultural norms they aren’t accustomed to. But for “personal preference stuff” you’ll find most guests offer to remove their shoes and the the hosts will let them know if they can keep 'em.
:: sorry about the hijack ::
Non-hijack question: What’s the deal about milk in a bar? Is there a link to the old thread (I didn’t see anything in a search.)
There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence.
One last shoe related point. You’d think it would have a lot to do with culture and all, but in Denmark it isn’t so clear cut, and we can get a lot of snow here in the winter. I’ve been to many houses here in DK and it’s not generally expected that you take your shoes off as a guest. However, the owner of the house usually has a place to keep the shoes at the door. I’ve never done this, and it isn’t universal though. For instance, at a house party, it isn’t generally expected, in my experience.
In Sweden, however, it’s always done. I don’t think the climates are that different either.
Circumcision. I had no clue that there were people that thought of it as mutilation or having other negative effects on guys.
Not only was I surprised at how vehement people can get over the issue, I was surprised at how pissed off I get over it. I never imagined that I even had an opinion on circumcision, until I read people disagreeing with it.
Wow, I inadvertently triggered two of these. The first was a stupid story about a naive female friend who got the date that she hoped for with a major foodie who owns a major gourmet dessert factory. They left for their date from the New York Fancy Food show and went to a nice bar/restaurant together. He picked a great wine. She ordered milk. I thought it was a clear-cut violation of etiquette and common-sense but lots of others chose otherwise.
The other was the Southern versus Boston accent. I am trying to protect my daughters from the Boston accent in small ways because it is awe-inspiring in its crudity and harshness. By small ways, I made sure I picked an area for us to raise kids where it is much more rare. A Southern Belle accent is much more charming and refined for a young lady but I only encourage it by situational choices rather than direct coercion. However, I never said that a Southern accent is more intelligent sounding than a Boston one. Jeff Foxworthy freely admitted that you never want to hear your new brain surgeon walk in and start speaking Southern. People with Southern accents get complimented constantly as I can personally attest at least until I lost mine. People with Boston accents just get mocked.
Not on the SDMB, but on some other Christian message boards, “Once Saved, Always Saved” vs. “Once Saved, Not Always Saved”. It was vicious, and I had no clue it was even a topic of disagreement.
Regards,
Shodan
I honestly thought gin martini vs. vodka martini was a simple matter of preference until I came here. Now I know the gin people regard the vodka drink as every bit as egregious an offense to good taste as the chocolate, apple, fill-in-the-blank sugarfests in a funnel shaped glass.
Go on any motorcycle message board and ask what’s the best way to clean the chain.
Then there’s the whole gas-guzzling SUV thing, and using cellphones while driving thing, but those are probably hot topics all over the internet.
I swear to you. Within the next thirty-six hours, I have an appointment with a Southern brain surgeon. But then, what do I know? I’m Southern and brain-damaged, right?
This topic really surprised me:
I never thought that I would live to seriously debate with intelligent people whether it is okay for the American government to torture people.
A couple that always come to mind: steak, well-cooked versus rare; and lint traps, emptied before or after.
Ghosts.
I knew that there were believers and non-believers, but I thought they pretty much ignored eachother’s oppinion. I had no idea there was a whole other sector that goes into a mind boggling rage, at the mention of the word “ghost”.
Indeed. It’s not enought that THEY think they know the truth, but they won’t stop until everyone agrees with them. They’re like anti-supernatural fundamentalists.
This drives me nuts, too.
Also, when a religion thread devolves into name calling, that makes me crazy. I realize that belief in a higher power is a hot topic for this message board due to the nature of the board (i.e., “fighting ignorance”), but it’s hard to have a debate with each side calling the other morons. Regardless of what people believe, you can’t change an opinion by bashing someone over the head again and again.
The argument over neutral terms for words like men, him, his, etc. That one got ugly.
Also not trying to start up the shoes on/shoes off thing again, but people in that thread talked about comfort. If you kept your shoes on in my home, I would assume that you were uncomfortable and getting ready to leave.
If you took your shoes off in my home, I’d assume you where getting ready to take a nap.