I was looking through some childhood pictures, and it reminded me that as a child, I used to take my shoes off when I went outside so that I would not get them dirty or messed up, and then I would put them back on when I went back inside. If I got very dirty outside, I would take a bath as soon as I got inside, but I definitely wanted to have shoes on when I was inside.

Lars

Lars, you are such a cool cat. :)

Lars, I know that you are an interesting adult, but you sure must have been a real interesting child as well.

Ann.

Lars, you know you wouldn't have been allowed in my house with your dirty bare feet. If anyone comes to my door who has been walking outside without shoes, like around the pool, I immediatly say 'We have a shoes on policy in this house"...
Linda C

Linda, we actually did have a faucet by our front door (or maybe it was the back door, anyway, it was the one I used), and so I washed my feet off before coming in the house. The last thing I wanted was to bring dirt inside!! I never wore out any of my shoes as a child because I took such good care of them. I think it's a Pisces thing!

Lars

If you have hardwood floors, and live in an apartment, removing footwear is a sign of consideration for the downstairs neighbors. Too many inconsiderate yuppie types get off on purposely stomping; perhaps this is the reason for the popularity of hardwood floors in gentrified urban areas.

I used to live in a flat in San Francisco that had hardwood floors, and we put rugs on all the floor surfaces to prevent noise from being transmitted to the neighbors below. Unfortunately, we were in the middle flat, and the neighbors above did not have rugs, and we could hear every footstep! Not only that, but because the entire building was wood, if anyone played music, the whole building because a speaker that transmitted the sound to everyone. We had to take turns playing the stereo and agree with the neighbors on the choice of music!

I don't miss that type of building at all!!

Lars - can't be a Pisces thing. DH is harder on shoes than almost anyone I know!

SAG -- LOL! While I have definitely met mroe than my share of stomping Yuppie types on the Left Coast, I have to disagree about reason for popylarity of wooden floors. Almost every house in this town has hardwood floors (although many have been covered by carpets now) and a Yuppie around here is either a tourist or here from Louisville or Lexington on business for the day. :) (Then again, you did specify gentrified urban areas, didn't you? Hmm...OK, you may have something there.)

Seriously though. I know what you mean about upstairs neighbors and shoes. It's not just wooden floors though. I had a upstairs neighbor once who I think never, ever took off her high heels. She walked fast and never seemed to sit down either -- maybe she was a pacer. In the tile of the bathroom and the vinyl in the kitche, it could sound like a jackhammer.

Ok I obviously had my fingers on the wrong hands on that last post. geez.

First, people, SOCKS ARE CLEANER THAN SHOES! Are there any science majors out there? Well, it doesn't take a scientist to determine that common sense would dictate that socks, which are changed daily and washed frequently, are cleaner than shoes. How many times do you hand wash the soles of your shoes? Don't BS me! NEVER!

We never wear shoes in our house, only clean socks. The proof is in our clean, fresh-smelling carpets. We bought the house new 11 years ago, and the surrounding neighborhood is similar construction. I can't count the number of times our neighbors have had their carpets commercially cleaned, or torn out and replaced. And when I have visited their homes, the carpets look like the same stained, mud-scuffed, drab, worn-out floor coverings that I've seen in taverns and other similar commercial establishments. It's a real stomach turner!

Despite the pro-shoe sentiments I have read here, that is proof enough for me. In over 10 years, we still have not found it necessary to have our carpets cleaned. And why should we? With the NO SHOES policy in place, the flooring in our home is in like-new condition.

Please don't tell me how shoes are cleaner, or it's too much of an inconvenience (LAZY), or you're too timid to ask guests to doff their shoes. I have done the empirical 11- year study. I am convinced that "NO SHOES" is the better policy, because I have been in the homes of people who wear shoes in their house and the carpets are a smelly, filthy health hazard.

Remember, the virus or bacterium likely to harm your family is most likely carried into your home on the soles of your shoes, deposited into the fibers of your carpets, and never seen. As you tromp, tromp, tromp around the house in your clodhoppers, the shoes do a second duty by distributing the microscopic filth up into the air, where it can be inhaled and deposited in the lungs. Bon Appetite!

All I want to say is, you can keep yourselfs far healthier by brushing and flossing, and by regular hand-washing.

After all how often do your hands or face touch the floor?

Want to really extend your life expectancy? Don't smoke, and wear seatbelts.

But going shoeless is going to suddenly make your house free of viral infection? That's a stretch!

Airborne germs that cause infection travel via coughs and sneezes, not from carpet. That's not to say that carpets don't harbor dust mites, that might irritate the very sensitive. But there's no CDC alert on carpet-transmitted influenza.

Signed,
Karen (who decided against fancy fonts)

kansaidan or worldTraveler,

Exposure to everyday bacteria is a good thing for your immune system. Most of the germs you fear are normal pathogens that are present on and in our bodies and can be cultured from each of us at any time. It is a good idea to wash your hands and to keep your hands away from your eyes, nose and mouth during cold and flu season. Don't kiss anyone with hepatitis, mono or strep. Get a flu shot every fall. Take vitamins, eat right and get plenty of sleep. Wear or don't wear shoes in your own home. Don't tell me what to do in mine. In the meantime, stop demanding that the rest of us share your phobias.

Denise

P.S. Do not email me.

Wow, who would think the shoe issue would be such a hot topic!

For me it's a simple matter of personal comfort. Years after foot surgery, I am not comfortable walking without shoes. Unless my shoes are wet or obviously dirty, I would prefer not to remove them. If I am a guest, I would like to be treated like a guest, with my comfort ahead of whether or not the carpet will need to be cleaned afterwards due to a dirt/germ phobia. (If I sat on a park bench on my way there, would I be asked to remove clothing for fear I carried animal debris? Scary thought!)

Would I take off my shoes if asked? Yes. Would I go back there again? No. In fact, if there were lots of people walking around, like a party, I would leave quickly--no way would I take the chance of having someone step on or bump my unprotected feet!

Once I was invited to an informal party at our friend`s house. Having entered I noticed that the hosts and their guests were in their stockinged feet. So I took my shoes off. So did my boyfriend, but the other girl which was with us didn`t do so and insisted on walking in in her heeled shoes. As it was in summer, she very obviously didn`t want to go barefoot, so she was the only person out of some 10 (among hosts and their guests) who was wearing shoes. do you think she was right or should she have removed her shoes, even if that meant going barefoot?

I think she was perfectly right not to have removed her shoes if she didn't want to. If some one asked me to take part of my clothing off and I didn't want to....I would leave. Just as I would leave a house where there was insense burning that made me sneeze, or the temperature was way too cold, or too warm.
Linda C

Well, Linda, I don`t agree. Clothing and footwear are not the same. While asking someone to take part of his/her clothing off is indeed ridiculous or downright insulting, footwear is a different matter. I think it is just a matter of consideration towards the hosts. Of course, nobody forced that girl to take her shoes off, but it would have been polite for her to have done so. Maybe she is shy going barefoot, or doesn`t like the way her feet look, but then it`s just a matter of taking appropriate care of the feet, nothing more.

Just for a laugh! I have a problem with guests when I ask them to LEAVE their shoes ON. We have tile floors throughout and haven't had a chance yet to get area rugs. We have a malamute and she gets the run of the house. All it takes is one walk down the road(still building houses) and her paws are filthy. So I ask guests to please leave on their shoes so their socks don't get dirty. Even though I am constantly damp mopping the floor. I would be so embarassed if they got home and had dirty white socks from my floors.LOL Besides we put in tile because it is virtually indestructible. And the floors are dark tumbled grey so even though you might not notice dirt I am pretty sure it's there. Linda