(no subject)

[pebblerocker]

When it's summer and all the ground is dry I keep my gumboots in the wardrobe out of the way.  When it was still winter I wouldn't have dreamt of wearing jandals.  Spring's in between, which means my front door is cluttered up with gumboots, jandals AND sneakers, in a space that's barely wide enough to carry shopping through.  Why can't they design houses with a space for taking off shoes?  Why do I have to keep tripping over footwear? Why are houses designed for those uncivilised people who wear their shoes inside?

I always get uncomfortable staying with the in-laws.  Everyone gets up in the morning and puts on their shoes, and to me that's a signal that we're leaving, imminently, and I get all jittery because I think I'm going to have to go out without my breakfast.

My man's family is posher than mine.  I bet they wear shoes inside because they know a vacuuming will eventuate within the next week.

Comments

[antikythera.livejournal.com]

This Canadian says... Canada is so multicultural that there is no consensus. :P

Most people I know take their shoes off in houses. If I had to guess, I figure there would be a better chance of not offending if I took my shoes off instead of leaving them on. But I usually just look to see what the residents of the house are doing, and follow suit.

I grew up in a rural area, where people were always working outside and going in for lunch and going back out, and it was not uncommon for people there to keep their shoes on in the house (as long as the shoes weren't actively shedding dirt or mud or water). The attitude was almost that it was easier to sweep once a day than to bother with taking shoes off every time you had to set foot in the house. None of these houses tended to have carpets, either -- it was all tile or linoleum, maybe with a throw rug wherever people were prone to sitting with shoes off.

In my own apartment now, I sometimes leave my shoes on, and sometimes take them off. Again, all the floors are tiled and easy to clean, and won't be damaged by shoes the way carpet could.