auntieshoque's Profile

I find the whole discussion about it being rude or not to be somewhat amusing. I'm in Canada, in one of the prairie provinces where it seems like we get more winter than summer, and it's basically a given that you take your shoes off in the house. In anyone's house. Even in the summer. Luckily, pretty much everyone I know takes their shoes off in their house, and just does it automatically in everyone else's home, too.

The whole bit about it being rude to ask someone to take their shoes off in your home seems to me to be completely misdirected. You're being invited into their lives to share in an event that they're hosting/cooking for/paying for/etc. You are entering THEIR world. Being determined to call them out for being rude for asking you to remove your shoes seems entirely ungrateful for what they are hosting. The excuses of their homes being too dirty or your shoes going with your outfit are actually just that - excuses. If you find most people's homes dirty, why do you not have some slippers that you take with you when going to someone else's home? If you're hung up on your outfit looking weird without the shoes, then pick a different outfit, or find funky socks to go with it. To be honest, most people won't think that the entire ensemble is thrown off just because you had to take your shoes off. If you're that offended by having to remove your shoes, then casually decline their next event, and if you want to be open about it, tell them why. To be honest, I'd politely tell people my rules of shoes off in the house, and if they insisted, let them know that they were welcome to leave. And they would NOT be getting an invitation to the next event.

Also, as a side note, the kinds of shoes that people wear to parties tend to be formal shoes with hard soles. Hardwood floors do actually get dented and damaged by them. When the solution (not wearing shoes) is easily achievable, why on earth would you wear them?