Do you take your shoes off?

[Tirilej]

That maybe sounds like a stupid question, but habits are hard to break you know

In Sweden people always take their shoes off when they get home, or visiting someone else. That's the first thing they do...always.
One of my brothers lived in Denmark for many years and in some, but not all homes people kept their shoes on.

Last summer I was a couple of months in Holland and I just couldn't get use to keep my shoes on. You take all dirt from the streets inside and it can't be so nice to your feets either
Nope, they didn't sleep with them on!

So how are your feets doing in all other countries around the world?

 

[dionysus]

When I loved in Indonesia, you'd leave them outside..to wear them in was incredibly rude. ( kinda sucked I always had to kick them for scorpions)

In my home, I generally say ' keep em on" but its all marble flooring so we sweep anyway

 

[homerbert]

in Belarus we always take shoes off

 

[The Dude]

In Germany - you take them off. In our house, you don't get caught wearing shoes indoors unless you are coming or going, and only in the foyer. When we visit friends in winter, we bring house shoes along which are like slippers.

 

[LaHutti]

In my wifes house, you take your shoes off !

I've lived in Denmark most of my life, and I think the normal...and polite thing to do, is take off your shoes...seems to be the general opinion in Canada as well. As with everything else, I think it's a mix of enheritance and environment, more than "country".....AND whether your socks have holes in them or not ...lol

You might as well ask if people drink in Sweden ... well...Swedes definately drink more, when they visit Denmark

 

[just play]

In my house it's hit or miss, lol. If we are running in to get something no need to take them off. But if we are staying in they are off.

I have never removed my shoes at a friend or relatives house. We don't do that where we live.

 

[Tirilej]

You might as well ask if people drink in Sweden ... well...Swedes definately drink more, when they visit Denmark

Thanks for a tip about my next question
But this one was about shoes, there inhabitans and habits...

 

[LaHutti]

I was raised to take my shoes off in the house, whether it's my own, or someone else's (house....not shoes ), and you're absolutely right, that habbits are hard to break. I always take my shoes off, even when people say "keep'em on"...It just doesn't seem right. I blame my mom

 

[Pulver]

I always take my shoes off! Thats the common practice in Norway in general as well.

 

[baldidiot]

I usually kick them off as I collapse onto the sofa, but more out of comfort than any kind of principle or habbit.

 

[chayton]

I tell my company to keep their shoes on unless it's wet and mucky outside, sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. I usually wear some kind of slippers in the house, but whenever I go to someone else's house I take my shoes off.

 

[sapit222]

As you say, in Sweden we take them off. So off they go!

 

[KasinoKing]

In England I think generally most do wear shoes in the house, or used to at least. Certainly we did when I was growing up and with my first wife.
But my current wife comes from The Czech Republic where taking shoes off at the door is the norm - and so she insists we do that here.
I think it's a total pain (if my shoes are dry & not dirty) - but I have to do what I am told!

KK

 

[weesie]

I'd have to put them on first! I think the last time I wore shoes was once last winter, because of snow. If it had just been cold, I wouldn't have. Going to the doctors last winter............ I usually wear flip-flops if I go anywhere and those come off as soon as I hit the door.

I have a severe hatred for shoes.............. I get it from my grandma! She was the same way!

 

[Cleveland]

We wear slippers around the house but allow others to keep their shoes on. I think most in Texas are shoes on, though I do have a few family / friends that require you take your shoes off when entering the house.

 

[Perc]

Definitely shoes off at the door (inside) here. I would get mad if someone wore their shoes in my house, no matter how clean they look. Like LaHutti said, I also feel uncomfortable wearing my shoes in someone else's house if they tell me to leave them on.

I think that's pretty much the norm in Canada, at least it is in Sask. Even some businesses, like the dentist I go to, make you take your shoes off at the door.

 

[dionysus]

Must be a sask thing, because it Is definitely NOT the norm Canada wide.

 

[bsilva028]

i only take em off when i get to the sofa too

and here in portugal, usually its all like that
sofa = shoes off

 

[raysgurl72]

I take them off

I don't like shoes in general so as soon as I come in the door, they are off my feet. But, I was not raised to take shoes off when entering my home or someone else's. I have light color carpet and initially said I wanted people to take off their shoes. But that never stuck. I wish I had though. I have a 8 month old that is starting to crawl and all I can think about is no matter that we've cleaned the carpet there are tons of deep down in those fibers. But, hey I survived crawling on floors as did everyone else so he'll be alright, I guess

 

[Mouche12]

Yeah, most people don't take their shoes off in Holland - but in my circles they do, except for my parents' house (marble floor, always shoes on). In my home, first thing I do is take them off - much more comfy

 

[maxd]

... I think that's pretty much the norm in Canada ....

Agreed, certainly in the West. Out East it seems to vary, at least that was what I saw.

Now I live in Paris and for some inexplicable reason the streets in many neighbourhoods are basically a toilet: dog crap is common and urine everywhere (not just from dogs either!). I've walked this city A LOT and I know it's a horrible thing to say but the poorer, more immigrant-dominated the quartier -- like my area for instance -- the more toilet activity from pets and people there is on the streets. For instance it's not that uncommon in the North and East parts of the city for a parent to walk their toddler over to a tree or curb, hike down the kid's pants and there they go, doing their business. What, kid waste is somehow better than everyone else's? When we first encountered this we thought we'd found ourselves back in the Middle Ages. Now we just look the other way and try to keep the disgust from being too obvious. To be fair though the posh neighbourhoods are quite a bit cleaner and you're a lot less likely to pass someone relieving themselves in public.

When tourists swoon about Paris being "so romantic" I often wonder if it's the dogs pooping on the sidewalk or the guys pissing on every wall in sight that they are referring to. Personally I don't find either very "romantic".

Anyway, you'd imagine that Parisians would be religious about removing their shoes at the door but most don't. We have to ask visitors to do so, often warning them in advance that we will be asking it of them. When workmen come they almost never comply: their favourite trick is to step outside, talk on their cellphones for a few minutes and then walk right in when your back is turned as if they've completely forgotten your request. It's a good thing we have hardwood floors. They get washed a lot.

 

[Balthazar]

In Quebec, Canada you have to take off your shoes otherwise it would be considered very rude.

Eating with your hat on is also considered rude.

Which reminds me of this:

 

[immortality]

I just bought a damn comfy pair of nike air max trainers, so I keep my shoes on.

We don't have any carpet in our house, all wooden flooring, so we don't really care unless the soles of the shoes are covered with muck.

But most of the time everyone has slippers on in the house, other than visitors.

 

[Tirilej]

Thanks everyone for answering my question
We are certainly having strange habits and I'm not only thinking about shoes. This was an easy question, but interesting anyway.
I especially liked to hear about how it is on the streets in Paris Max. It was a lot like that up here too maybe 15 years ago, but they changed the rules so no dogpoop anywhere, not even in the parks. There are special plasticbags for that kind

Lets see what the next question will be. Dogpoop maybe

 

[just play]

Thanks everyone for answering my question
We are certainly having strange habits and I'm not only thinking about shoes. This was an easy question, but interesting anyway.
I especially liked to hear about how it is on the streets in Paris Max. It was a lot like that up here too maybe 15 years ago, but they changed the rules so no dogpoop anywhere, not even in the parks. There are special plasticbags for that kind

Lets see what the next question will be. Dogpoop maybe

Where I live we get fined if we don't pick up our dog poop. It's a law. I got caught once, all my bags in my car were gone, so I take the dogs out and there was an animal control guy right where I was, as soon as my dog pooped and I didn't pick it up, he started his car and came over to me and said "are you going to pick that up?" I'm like ummm, yes. I went back to my car and had to use a pair of mittens I had, I didn't have anything else.

Our parks have bags for the public to use, and signs everywhere about the law, but where I was there wasn't any, it wasn't a park.

 

[just play]

For instance it's not that uncommon in the North and East parts of the city for a parent to walk their toddler over to a tree or curb, hike down the kid's pants and there they go, doing their business

Ewwwww. My child can hold it, thank you very much!!!

I think people think Paris is romantic because of all the movies. Whenever you ask say 10 people about where they would like to travel I would say 6-7 of them say Paris.

 

[Nate]

I generally take my shoes / sneakers off once I am home but not necessarily at the door. I never ask visitors to take theirs off. Most of the time we use slippers to trod around the house.

Nate

 

[cpdnd31]

Shoes off in Chicago. All the different weather we get. Now my next question would be " tell me in Paris the first thing you do is wash your hands?" after reading
about the public toilet habits, I had some bad visions. I picture poop, pee and someone opening a door. I'm gagging big time.

 

[Brooklyn]

I have slate tile throughout so I guess it really doesn't matter here. However, when I was growing up my grandmother insisted we kept our shoes off in the house, so it's almost like a second nature to me. She is from Italy and it's considered disrespectful to her to walk around her house in shoes, but she has white carpet also so I think I would feel the same.

I cannot stand to be barefoot though so I always have my "house shoes" on. I never wear them out of the house though.

 

[maxd]

There are "scoop your dog's poop" laws here in Paris too, signs up in public spaces, but no one pays much attention. The did a bunch of on-the-street interviews when the laws came in several years ago and some of them were hilarious. In our neighbourhood people said "oh yeah, we'll scoop" but when the interviewer asked them how they would pick it up and where they put the "package" once they had it they were obviously clueless.

One guy said he'd pick it up with a special shovel he'd carry for the purpose but when they asked him how big this shovel would be and where would he keep it it was obvious he was thinking of his credit cards.

My favourite one was an interview with a posh lady in the kind of neighbourhood where they put on the mink and pearls to walk the dog. They asked her if she had heard of the new scooping law. "Yes" she said rather briskly with that "why are you talking to me?" look rich Parisians trot out whenever a stranger of an obviously inferior social class deigns to interrupt their busy day. "Will you respect the new law?" they asked her. "I am French," she said, "I respect all of our government's laws". "So you will be scooping up your dog's droppings?" "Certainly not!" she fired back. Without skipping a beat the interviewer said "Oh, why is that?". "It would be unpleasant" she said and walked off with her bouncy little foo-foo doggie in tow, presumably to make a deposit nearby. That's Paris in a nutshell for you!

As to hand washing in Paris the sad truth is that the truth would curl your hair. I loitered in a men's loo at a movie theater a few years after we arrived here and counted the number of guys that washed their hands after using the urinals or stalls. About one in three, maybe less. Tests on currency has shown that Parisians are only slightly less filthy than Londoners when it comes to their bathroom habits: fully three in four bills in people's wallets had fecal matter on them, 70% of credit cards were in the same "lovely" condition. The Metro here is a Petri dish: if you want to catch something that's the place to be. Covering your face when you cough here usually means turning your head and doing it on the person standing next to you: as long as you've turned your head then hey, you made an effort, non?

Paris can be a great place but sometimes it does drive an old Anglo like me straight up the wall.

 

[GrandMaster]

Other French cities have police municipale under the authority of the mayor, but Paris is policed by the Police Nationale, for whom it is below their dignity to deal with dog excrement.

 

[just play]

There are "scoop your dog's poop" laws here in Paris too, signs up in public spaces, but no one pays much attention. The did a bunch of on-the-street interviews when the laws came in several years ago and some of them were hilarious. In our neighbourhood people said "oh yeah, we'll scoop" but when the interviewer asked them how they would pick it up and where they put the "package" once they had it they were obviously clueless.

We actually get a ticket, much like a traffic ticket. A "dog poop ticket" if you will. I'm not sure how much it is.

Isn't there trash cans all over the streets of Paris? All our surrounding cities have them. If I walk from one end of our town to the next end there must be 20 trash cans and I live in a very small town. They are attached to the street light poles. So we use grocery plastic bags, pick up the poop, walk about 50-100 steps and there's a trash can.

 

[maxd]

Isn't there trash cans all over the streets of Paris?

Trash bags actually. They removed the cans because they were apparently a great place for terrorists to hide bombs. Not sure when the change-over started but by the time we arrived about a decade ago there were no cans to be seen.

Anyway, yes, they are there. All over the place in public parks and such. But having and using are sometimes a goodly distance apart. I think it's like the lady said, picking up a handful of steaming dog poop is unpleasant and Parisians tend to have a very highly developed sense of what they do and do not want to do.

To be fair probably half of the dog owners do pick up but for the rest of them ... not a chance! Given that there's an estimated 11 Million pets in Paris, say half of them dogs, and half of those (one guesstimates) pooping when and where they please that still leaves you with well over two million little doggy bung-holes busy at work on the city streets more or less every single day of the year. Isn't that a pleasant image?

And all of that says nothing of the rivers of urine that streak the sidewalks from one end of the city to the other, no one bats an eyelash at those. It seems to be an unwritten rule here that once a dog hits the street he is master of his domain: they're permitted to wee on anything they please whether it be cars, bikes, people's luggage, curbside trash, storefronts, welcome mats, open car doors, electrical and telephone boxes, city maintenance equipment, whatever! It's all fair game. We tend to make a point of stepping over the little golden rivers and the looks we get sometimes makes it pretty clear that what we see and what the Parisians see are not the same thing.

There are good reasons why Paris is sometimes called "the world's biggest outdoor toilet".