Barefoot????

Geyser_Mountain_Dreamer
Geyser_Mountain_Dreamer Posts: 304 Member
in Chit-Chat
This isn't a fitness related topic. For that, I apologize.

Something very bizarre happened yesterday. Someone I know with >severe< OCD freaked out.

Is it weird, rude, disrespectful, uncommon, unsanitary, or abnormal to walk in someone's house with clean bare feet?

Replies

  • natalie412
    natalie412 Posts: 1,039 Member
    Not at all. In a lot of homes, (especially Asian, in my experience - and also people with white carpets, ha ha), it is actually expected. Keeps the floors cleaner.
  • mommy2AR
    mommy2AR Posts: 2,796 Member
    Personally I would never walk into anyone's home with bare feet. I really dont know if it would be considered rude but I dont know anyone who walks into other people's homes with bare feet...maybe its just me
  • smhammons
    smhammons Posts: 115 Member
    No shoes..... yes,,,, but bare no!!!!!:noway: socks a must....:wink:
  • WickedGarden
    WickedGarden Posts: 944 Member
    Depends on their house...I knew a girl and no matter what, I would NEVER go barefoot in their house.

    I hate wearing socks/shoes (I like sandals) so I usually carry a pair of clean socks to wear if they have a 'no shoes' policy. I prob should look into those roll up flats.
  • Laurla11
    Laurla11 Posts: 54
    I don't think it's weird at all? i'd be more offended if someone walked through my house with their grubby shoes!
  • victoria4321
    victoria4321 Posts: 1,719 Member
    I think it's weird if you don't ask first. What if your feet are fugly or smelly?
  • manda1002
    manda1002 Posts: 178 Member
    If you live in Hawai'i, you leave your shoes outside the front door. Never walk in someones house with shoes on.
  • jjblogs
    jjblogs Posts: 327 Member
    Wouldn't even think twice about someone walking in my home barefoot. Couldn't care less unless they are disgustingly dirty or something.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    hmm. Most people I know walk in their own and others houses with barefeet. In fact, I'd think it was a little unusual (but it wouldnt bother me) if someone walked around our house with shoes ON.

    We just have that kind of house. As do most of my friends.

    Most folks I know ask as they come in. I say "whatever". They see that our shoes are at the door. There are slippers there, and I tell them that's optional. Most of my caucasian friends go barefoot. The asians are a mixed bag. Some put slippers on, some go barefoot.

    But that's just us.
  • IAMDDAY
    IAMDDAY Posts: 771
    I really would not care actually. I mean i wash my floors and vacuum so I don't care. However if your friend is OCD you might have wanted to take that into consideration and asked but nothing to freak out about.
  • mamamc03
    mamamc03 Posts: 1,067 Member
    I think it's weird if you don't ask first. What if your feet are fugly or smelly?

    Yes, the fugly/smelly part is essential. But speaking as someone who works with people with disabilities including things like OCD, if you knew they were OCD in regards to cleanliness, you should have asked first. If its your house...screw EM!! I was raised in the south and as soon as I get home my socks & shoes are off!!
  • mbajrami
    mbajrami Posts: 636 Member
    In my culture, you are to take your shoes off before entering someone's home. Whether with socks or barefoot, you don't wear shoes. It's a respect thing.
  • theladyy
    theladyy Posts: 176
    I'm always barefoot, so everyone expects it of me...I also live in the south so it's very common to take your shoes off when or before you go in somebodies house.

    That is kind of strange though, like others say, it's usually the other way around. But, now you know to leave your shoes on at that persons house.
  • OSC_ESD
    OSC_ESD Posts: 752 Member
    ~ I only wear shoes when absolutely necessary .... but then again, I don't usually go in other peoples homes. Just sayin'

    I ♥ Barefoot ... and the sand between my toes !
  • supermom2002
    supermom2002 Posts: 180 Member
    some people are just grossed out by feet?

    Unless i'm working out or running you won't ever find me with socks on. Even with 3ft of snow outside. So I would walk around in another's house barefoot and not think twice.

    Most people I know take their shoes off at the door when going into a house. We even have these "mud rooms" at the entrances of some homes that are built specifically for that purpose.

    To each their own.
  • Tamstar1985
    Tamstar1985 Posts: 334 Member
    living in asia, i am expected to take off my shoes when entering someone's home. i always carry a pair of clean socks, just in case i am wearing sandals or flip-flops that day. but in my own home... i'm always barefoot, especially if i've just waxed the floors! it's too slippery with socks on!
  • LilRedRooster
    LilRedRooster Posts: 1,421 Member
    A bare foot is actually cleaner than one in socks, because socks tend to trap bacteria and make things moist. I even did an experiment in microbiology where I swabbed various peoples' feet with and without socks, in different kinds of shoes. Bare, dry feet were much more sanitary than socks, hand-down.

    Now I'm a barefoot kinda gal myself, but I generally follow the cues of whomever I'm visiting. If they take off their shoes when they get in their house, I do, too. I would prefer to just take them off whenever, but I wait to see if it works with the host first. I don't have any issue with feet myself, but some people just can't stand the thought of them.. It's a mental issue, and not an immediate physical thing.
  • Ocarina
    Ocarina Posts: 1,550 Member
    Lol. We all have feet. More natural then socks. I don't think it matters as long as you maintain your feet.
  • littlepinkhearts
    littlepinkhearts Posts: 1,055 Member
    I was raised a country girl. Spent my whole summers in my bare feet and so did most others, or sandals. I still spend most of the summer in my bare feet. I would not feel uncomfortable wearing them in someone's house. I might wipe them off on a doormat or something depending on where i'd been. (grass clippings or dirt)
  • Misiaxcore
    Misiaxcore Posts: 659 Member
    I don't know anyone who finds barefeet rude. Wearing shoes in someone's home is rude.
  • c00kiethief
    c00kiethief Posts: 1
    hmmm i'm not sure if anyone else already asked it (didn't see it on first skim), but OP, which of the following was the case:

    1) you were walking around outdoors in barefeet (i grew up in a small town, definitely spent a lot of time walking barefoot on lawns), and then proceeded to walk indoors
    2) you were wearing flip-flops or sandals or open-toed shoes of some form, and when you took them off at the door your feet were obviously bare
    3) you were wearing covered shoes with/without socks, and took them off at the door

    the first one is obviously no better or worse than walking into someone's house with shoes on, which, as multiple people have already pointed out, some people don't like, particularly in various cultures. the last one i can see being kind of gross just because the insides of your closed-toed shoes seem like a nice warm haven for smelly bacteria (thinking athletic shoes here). the one in the middle seems the most likely, and i admit i can see this going either way, but with your ocd friend might just be nice to play it safe...:)

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