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[winamac1]

On 12/26/2014 YorkieonmyPillow said:

On 12/26/2014 persiflage said:

As a guest I follow the customs of the house. I think many people don't wear street shoes in the home. I don't think it is rude to ask, it is like not wanting someone to smoke in your house.

I agree, and I wouldn't feel offended if someone offered me a pair of house slippers; actually, I would feel welcome. Sort of a comfy feeling.

[winamac1]

My sister has a sign on her door to please remove shoes. I'd like to know where she got it.

After replacing my carpet a year and 3 months ago, I want people to remove their shoes.

[minkbunny]

Hey win , how ya doing?

Hope my beautifully embossed, hand engraved Christmas card with ecru vellum envelope arrived at your home, safe and sound !

[SaggingGal]

Thought I would mention that yes, I have repeatedly, over the years, sent photos of the neglected condition of the lobby, garage, stairwells, etc. to the Board of Directors and the property management company. I have even called the municipal Sanitation Department engineer to come inspect some of my claims. This person contacts the Board and tells them they need to clean up. They don't always initially follow his directive. They get angry with me for involving local government and then they order the cleaning crew to clean the area of concern. Usually only one item on a list of 5-6 items that I present on a yearly basis receives actual maintenance response from the Board. And yes, this is an upscale complex. Scary, isn't it?

Last year I pointed out that the carpeted stairs in the condo building had not been shampooed in 12 years, only the carpeted hallways were done every couple of years, and to my surprise the property manager agreed and had the carpets shampooed. However, I was told this was a one-time deal. Now I am working on the walls of the stairways that have never been washed or painted in 13 years. But, I digress. TMI.

The exterior of the property is where the Board prefers to spend our monthly maintenance fees including the upkeep of the pond and its inherent family of swans, and careful landscape design features like a wildflower preserve, and a lengthy walking trail surrounding the complex. They do not, however, direct the cleaning crew to remove litter from the grounds that is evident everywhere.

I still stand by my opinion that I do not want litter, glass bits, and debris from the bottoms of shoes worn through my condo. I have cleaned up glass shards several times on the grounds and in the building and injured myself, would prefer not to have this tracked into my own home.

And our sanitary storm sewers do back up after a heavy rain and the garage and lobby flood a foot or so with sewage from the units. This does not get entirely cleaned up unless someone (me) complains that it needs to be done. So people track this dreck through the lobby, the elevator, the stairs and the hallway. As I stated, if the situation warrants it, I do ask our condo visitors to remove their shoes. It is not a question of "pretty" it is a question of health and safety for us. I appreciate everyone's input very much. It certainly opens my eyes to how this request is perceived by our condo guests. Interestingly the only people I have needed to ask to remove their shoes are repairmen and a very few friends. All the others just take them off at the door with no prompting from me. And yes, we are moving next year.

[JJ]

While I agree with the "your house, your rules" concept, that was not OP's question. She asked if it was rude. And the answer to that is yes, it is rude. There are several legitimate reasons why some people need to wear shoes all the time. And even if it is just their personal comfort, I would never want a guest in my house to be uncomfortable in my home.

I guess I was raised to be a good hostess. A good hostess does not want her guests to be uncomfortable. And I will say, that most guests who are uncomfortable taking their shoes off, will do it anyway if they are asked, and most likely will not say anything to you about it because, they want to be a good "guest".

And frankly, it does not matter what the custom is in Hawaii. Unless you live in Hawaii, the Hawaiian custom is irrelevant.

[NYC Susan]

On 12/26/2014 Montana said:

Aren't you paying condo fees to maintain public areas? I would be more concerned about that.

I would, too.

If I lived in an upscale condo building, I would expect that carpet in common areas be shampooed regularly, and I certainly wouldn't be happy having to dodge broken glass or walk thru a lobby that's "often littered". Even a building that's not upscale shouldn't have conditions like that. (I'm not sure what's upscale about this particular place. Is it the location? The price? Because "upscale" to me means much more than either of those things.)

Back to topic: We never wear shoes at home, but only because it's more comfortable. It's been my habit for as far back as I can remember. We don't ask people to remove their shoes. If they want to, that's fine. If not, that's fine too. I've never had to deal with anything being tracked in that wasn't easily taken care of by vacuuming.

[PeterDM]

On 12/26/2014 JJ said:

While I agree with the "your house, your rules" concept, that was not OP's question. She asked if it was rude. And the answer to that is yes, it is rude. There are several legitimate reasons why some people need to wear shoes all the time. And even if it is just their personal comfort, I would never want a guest in my house to be uncomfortable in my home.

I guess I was raised to be a good hostess. A good hostess does not want her guests to be uncomfortable. And I will say, that most guests who are uncomfortable taking their shoes off, will do it anyway if they are asked, and most likely will not say anything to you about it because, they want to be a good "guest".

And frankly, it does not matter what the custom is in Hawaii. Unless you live in Hawaii, the Hawaiian custom is irrelevant.

Well said.

[NYC Susan]

On 12/26/2014 kcubed said:

On 12/26/2014 piperbay said:

On 12/26/2014 Tribefan said: The way I was raised it's rude NOT to remove your shoes before entering someone's home.

I agree! I automatically take my shoes off and raised my kids to do the same.

I totally agree. Tracking germs, dirt etc. into someone's home seems so rude to me. I can't believe so many people find removing shoes to be rude. That makes no sense to me.

I don't understand the comments about one's feet being cold when they take off their shoes and expose bare feet. If you are concerned about cold feet, why in the world would you go out in the middle of winter without socks? Unless you live in Florida or another state with warm climate, I can't imagine going out without socks.

I live in New York, and I go outside all the time in winter without socks. I wear them sometimes, but usually not. And I know lots of people here who hate socks & never wear them at all.

[VanSleepy]

We don't wear our shoes in the house, but it's not a germ or dirt thing, it's a comfort thing. I have some friends who come over and remove their shoes to be comfortable, not because I would ever ask them to. Do the shoeless people ever have parties? I just cannot imagine asking dinner/party guests to remove their shoes and having 30+ people walking around in their socks or bare feet. I put my shoes ON when people come over.

[MarLoCat]

Disposable Hotel slippers

or shoe covers