Well who knew this post would hit a nerve, so to speak! I honestly wrote it here, to get my venting out, instead of asking my guests to remove their shoes.
Funnily enough, I consider it rude for me to ask a guest to remove their shoes, so I never do. But I see here that some people would never think of it, unless I ask them.
I was half joking about the scent of Pine Sol in my home, but some took it literally. What I meant was: If you come in and see my home in immaculate condition, you should wonder if I want your shoes off and ask. If you ask, I’ll say yes. On the other hand, if we’ve just come back from a camping trip and we’re shlepping the equipment back in, through my home, to the storage ~ no, it’s unreasonable for me to expect no shoes. But I will make a mental note that I must clean the floors soon.
As for carpet, that isn’t my case. I have tiles and hardwood floors. Oddly enough, I’ve seen comments to me like, “If you care more about your floors than you do about your guests…” In all actuality, I think it’s less comfortable to keep your shoes on. Part of my repulsion to people keeping their shoes on is that it’s almost insulting to me that they wouldn’t “make themselves at home”. To me, leaving your shoes on in my home is like leaving your jacket on. It implies, “I’m just here for a few minutes.”
What doesn’t make sense to me is that I have no problem walking around barefeet outside ~ to the parking lot, to bring the garbage out, doing a project out on the lawn. And I don’t worry about coming back in the house barefoot. Although, in the summer, I do clean my floors more frequently than in the winter.
I did see a comment about workers coming in the home, who remove their shoes before crossing the threshold. I’ve always seen that this is the case. I don’t think I’ve ever had a phoneguy, cableguy, plumber, repairman etc. come in my home without leaving their shoes off outside the front door! People who come in for just a few minutes (landlord wants me to sign something, upstairs vet neighbour bringing me information about my cats) mostly create an invisible barrier. They will not walk past my entrance. One friend dropped by my house 'cause she had to pee and was still about 15 minutes from home. She was about to take her shoes off. I told her not to bother because I was doing the floors that day. She tippy-toed all the way to the bathroom. This was not a rainy, snowy, muddy day. This was in the middle of summer. When I saw her do that, I thought, “It’s nice to see that respect.”
So yeah, I guess Larry Mudd hit the nail on the head ~ must be a Canadian thing. Funnily enough, come to think of it, any time an American has come into my home, they haven’t taken their shoes off. My Australian fiancé doesn’t either. For some reason, that doesn’t bother me as much as my Canadian friends not doing it. I always took it as, “They aren’t comfortable to make themselves at home.” The two American homes I’ve been in had a Shoes Outside The Front Door Policy. This could be because they’re Canadian Ex-Pats living in Las Vegas.
Speaking of, in my apartment building, most people leave their boots outside of their apartment doors on a mat. I don’t, but just because I don’t want them stolen. Come to think of it, my gynecologist has the same rule. Shoes off outside the door. Not outside the examining room door. Outside the office door. You know what? Come to think of it, so does my tanning salon. Shoes off before you walk in. And wow! Now I’m thinking of it, so does my hair salon. But she offers slippers.
For the life of me I can’t imagine why, if she was so worried about her carpet, she didn’t just have the girls go around back – this was San Diego, everybody in our neighborhood had a patio.