In chat today, the subject of indoor and outdoor shoes in elementary school came up. Three americans had never heard of the concept, while I, the only canadian, had grown up with a separate pair of shoes kept at school for us to wear indoors and not dirty up the hallways and classrooms too much. This pair of shoes were always sneakers, and so they could be used as gym shoes, too.
So the question arose: is this just a canadian thing? Maybe just a Quebecker thing (I grew up in the eastern townships)? Although this practise was put into use on a Canadian military base in Germany in the early 90s (when I was living there) so it must be a bit more wide-spread! One chatter said it must have been a difference in being taught to wipe your feet as you enter the building, but living is Québec, I can say that that would STILL result in WAY too much water all over the place, especially in the winter.
So the question is - did you grow up with indoor and outdoor shoes at school? If so, where are you from?
BTW - I was also required to have an “indoor” pair of gym shoes throughout high school, too, so as not to damage the gym hardwood floors.
We had indoor and outdoor shoes at my independant British all-girls school. We had uniforms for junior school, two for senior school - summer and winter - and one for sixth form. And a gym uniform including green woollen gym knickers. Lovely.
When I was in school, this was a competely alien concept. I grew up in New Orleans, where it “snows” (a 1/4 inch … maybe) about once a generation.
However, now that I’m older and have my own place, I do keep ratty old shoes near the front door so that I can walk my dog in some nearby woodsy areas. That keeps my work loafers and suede shoes from getting sullied in mud, puddles, or dog patties.
My kids have to have a separate pair of indoor shoes for (pre)school. Both have chosen sandals. Flodjunior also needs to have a pair of sneakers with non-marking soles for gym class, but apparently it is unbelievably uncool to use these as your indoor shoes the rest of the time :rolleyes:
My elementary school always had students wear separate indoor/outdoor shoes. But in junior high and high school you could wear whatever you wanted. The use of indoor shoes was definitely for cleanliness reasons - dirty melting snow and slush is not fun for the janitors.
I grew up in Edmonton, Alberta. (It’s -27 Celsius out right now, plus wind chill, with almost a foot of fresh snow on the ground).
I have several friends who grew up in much warmer climates (southern US, Australia) who (when they first came here) were mystified as to why people would remove their shoes when they come in the house. They thought that it looked strange to see rows of shoes lined up near the coat closet. But I always remove my shoes, even in the summer, but it’s imperative in the winter. My front entrance is tiled, but even if you stamp your feet and knock off all the visible snow, you’d still be tracking plenty of dirty wetness through the rest of the (mostly carpeted) house.
