Do you wear shoes indoors? If you don’t wear shoes in your house or grew up in a resolute environment not wearing a pair when you are home. You might wonder why do people wear shoes in the house. There are many reasons and principles behind this particular subject. In this article, we will be opening up the reason for you. Bear with us.
People who tend to wear shoes in the house might be bound by cultural tradition. The same goes for the ones preferring to take their shoes off out of respect and all. People also wear shoes inside their homes to protect their feet from landing on sharp objects and taking hits from the ground and corners.
They might feel that it’s offensive to ask someone to take off their shoes. Thus they allow shoes inside the house.
It can also be that they are trying to shield odour out of embarrassment. There are many reasons to wear shoes inside the home and the opposite.
Some prefer to take it off
Asian people abide by some restrictions of putting off their shoes before entering the house. For example, Japanese people and similarly many other Asian families want their floors immaculate. Untidy floors are a big downer, more importantly, shoes carry bacterias that can contaminate the house and people.
Some Asians prefer to dine on the ground and even sleep on it afterwards. So keeping the shoes outside is their first preference. They don’t like dining in a shabby place, in such cases, no one likes to. For example, Japanese people use tatami mats for their eating purpose as they sit on the ground. Tamami is a woven material made of rice and glass straw and to keep it clean, keeping bare feet is the only solution.
For washroom purposes, they have a different pair of shoes for the usage which is taken off and left in the washroom once they are done.
Americans and Europeans do wear shoes differently
The majority of Americans and Europeans opt to keep their shoes on even inside their house. This might look a bit off, because why would you want to keep your shoes on your feet as you walk the tidy floors of your house? They have their reasons, let’s take a look.
Mud free roads and walkways
Roads in America and Europe are maintained well, there are places, tracks and walkways that are completely mud-free. This is one reason shoes are likely to catch less dirt, compared to roads in other countries. One good reason why their shoes remain neat. This is why they prefer to continue wearing the pair even when they enter the home.
Urban living and habits
As per reports, almost 70% of Americans dwell in cities and a high number of Europeans live in metropolitan spaces. Living in a city with a fast-paced life plays a big role here in carrying their shoes even inside the home. Cities in America and Europe are mostly clean and attract less dirt on the shoes. People have different habits of living in a city, they are more agile and prefer to be on the move at all times, so keeping the shoes on in the house keeps them on their feet.
Fast-paced lifestyle
People who are active and working all the time prefer to wear shoes in the house as well. It’s like a standard cultural norm for most people in America and Europe to continue the pace from outdoors to indoors. They change shoes in the house but still don’t prefer to take them off completely to complement and sustain their hard work.
It’s a matter of comfort
Your comfort zone is different from mine, this is a fact. So if you argue about why people wear shoes in the house, it won’t be justifiable. You might be comfortable in bare feet, but others might be snug in a pair of plush shoes. They feel that moving into the house with shoes on, is more convenient and comfortable than bare feet. It’s all about personal comfort and convenience and everyone has their way of dealing with things.
Don’t they care about contamination?
We all know that shoes are prone to carry a lot of muck and filth. It can tarnish your floor and overall home appearance. More importantly, it can lead to bacteria and virus contamination.
The reason Americans and Europeans stick to wearing shoes in their house is that most of their cities and roads are spick and span. They carry very few or no visible tracks of dirt inside the house, and even if some comes in the way they don’t hesitate to clean it out as they like to be productive and always on their feet. The ones who wear shoes all the time, like to keep their house clean and sanitized therefore walking around in a pair of shoes inside the house is no big deal.
The alternatives
It’s either shoes or no shoes, right? Well, some Asian people, even people from other continents will prefer to wear lightweight options like slippers. Slippers feel like air on feet, unlike shoes that can be constricted after hours and hours of use. Therefore people prefer to use it while moving around from place to place inside their house.
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Final thoughts
Asians might be a bit picky and always want the answer to why do people wear shoes in the house. If you have gone through this article, you know the answer to why.
In short, people have their preferences and comfort levels when it comes to embracing shoes indoors and outdoor. Just like some cultures think it’s offensive or unhealthy to keep shoes on inside a house. Some people might think it is ill manners to ask someone to drop their shoes off at the door, so they permit shoes inside the home. Due to having clean cities, walkways and roads, shoes are not the biggest concern inside the house.
Resources:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/feb/15/wsj-shoes-on-shoeless-house-essay
