Appealing to the collective wisdom on this phenomenon. I took my kid to see her doctor in her new clinic today. Kid had allergic reaction to meds, so when we get to this new place, the sign on the door ‘Take off shoes before entering’ kind of left us nonplussed. Kid was in too much physical discomfort to comply and I didn’t like leaving my shoes in an area where I couldn’t keep my eye on who was coming and going, and the socks they provided, as Kid said, looked questionable. No one challenged us, so it was ok, but the clinic was full and everyone complied, except nous.
So, is this a regular practice now? Is it even hygienic, let alone safe? Stores and restaurants still say ‘no shirt, no shoes, no service’ but is that even meaningful now?
As usual, fairly common in some parts, like Canada.
Usually the sign says something like “Please remove outer (or outdoor) footwear.”
In a lot of cases those blue Tyvek booties are supplied to go over your socks.
Yeah, I’m in Manitoba. I can see how places will ask folks to take off footwear in winter and the early spring when sidewalks and parking lots are really messy, but now conditions are dry and clean and I just don’t see the justification.
After living in Canada for decades, I always take mine off in my doctor’s waiting room. Sometimes the non-plussed clerk there goes and rescues them from under my chair while I am in the examining room, “so nobody will steal them”. I even did the cardiac treadmill test in my stocking feet.
If course, I never wear shoes in my house, either.
Some people have a hard time walking with no shoes on so this idea is nuts ! The doctor can have people put protected covers over their shoes and this will keep pollen off the floor . This the only reason I can think of but pollen get all over your clothing too so then what do you take all your clothes off too?
We’ve had numerous threads on this here. It’s just the cultural norm. My dentist requires removal of footwear, but provides booties.
My doctor requires removal of footwear in the winter: no booties.
The last place I worked had a whole body monitor lab (radiation uptake): no shoes and booties.
People have a hard time walking with no shoes? Like 20 steps to the examination room?
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Very very common in most clinics I’ve been to in Ontario during the late fall/winter/early spring months. It’s bad form to leave on your clunky winter boots because you track in snow, slush, dirt, and salt, and leave filthy wet footprints all over the place. Usually only enforced in the winter months, and no one will care if you leave your sandals or shoes on all summer. I’ve seen it at doctors’ offices, dentists, spas, that sort of place. Fancy places will provide slippers or booties to go over your socks, but most people go around in their sock feet with no ill effects. The alternative is that someone is forced to mop the floors every twenty minutes to keep the salt and slush from becoming a slipping hazard on tile, or the wet dirt will stain carpets.
This seems insane to me. If a customer is going to a doctor’s office where the weather is cold the last thing they want to do is take their shoes off and get cold feet.
What is the significance of winter & spring?
Winter in Canada means snow, but how much more water can there be on shoes due to snow rather than a simple rainstorm? A bit more perhaps, but stomping your feet gets rid of most of it, and the dampness remaining is what doormats are for. Even so, I can’t believe any business in snow-prone areas would open before shoveling their sidewalks and parking lots.
Spring means rain, but again it rains everywhere (and in other seasons), and that doesn’t seem to prompt businesses anywhere else to ask people to remove their shoes because their soles are wet.
The comments about mud do make some sense, but why would there be mud on sidewalks and parking lots? Where is all this mud coming from? If there is mud they need to hire a competent landscaper.
And yet, I’ve lived in Winnipeg for 37 years (I’m 58) and we get as much if not more snow than most places. Still, I have NEVER experienced being asked to remove my shoes until today. I have a theory that it is as simple as clinics, etc., not having housekeeping resources, hence they ask patients to foot, ahem, the bill for them, so to speak.
BTW, I have advanced arthritis in my knees and walking without shoes is uncomfortable. I wear shoes all the time when standing or walking.
You guys have no idea, just no idea. It’s impossible to explain.
Shovel sidewalks and parking lots.
Stomp feet.
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There was supposed to be smilies after those last two points.
I’ve lived in Ontario for just as long and it’s extremely common for businesses to ask you to remove your shoes.
If they didn’t it would be a hell hole of salt, sand, slush, water. I can’t even imagine.
Let’s say, during the winter, 50 people visit an office.
Let’s say it’s snowing outside.
Let’s say that boots hold about 100 ml of snow in their various treads and nooks.
Let’s say you can stomp half of that off.
So now you’ve got 50 ml per boot of stuck snow, times two boots, times 50 people.
You’ve just deposited 5 litres of water, salt and sand all over some poor schmuck’s office carpet and hallway and examination rooms. All of which can be avoided by removing your boots at the door.
Get it?
Snow on the boots makes much more mess than rain. Rain water just slides off. Snow gets into every nook and cranny in the crevice of the boot, onto the laces and the tops and the sides, and it is impossible to stomp off every bit of that onto a doormat. Plus the salt and gravel that get lodged into the boots, the grit from the parking lot that you track inside, etc., and if you don’t want to spend ten minutes going over your boots with a toothbrush on entry you’re going to track in some muck and snow.
Nope, still don’t get it. There are lots of places in the northern parts of the US that average 5 feet of snow or more a winter, so it’s not as though we’re not aware of snow and slush related messes, yet we’re not asked to remove our shoes at doctors’ or dentists’ offices. And I seriously doubt you can retain 50ml of liquid in your footwear, anyway especially if you stomp your feet on the welcome mat - that’s over an ounce and a half!
I beg to differ. An ounce and a half sounds entirely reasonable to me. Ok, let’s half that at 25 ml, that still puts two and a half litres of crap all over your doctor’s, dentist’s floor. Every day!
How is that acceptable?
