Judge John Hodgman: Mi Casa Es Shoeless Casa

February 16, 2015 9:25 AM

A wife thinks her husband is too strict about their no-shoe policy inside the home.

Episode page with evidence. (Spoilers in comments.)

posted by Shmuel510 (6 comments total)

I'll just say right off that I am an asshole who wears shoes in the house. As far as I'm concerned, shoes come off when I don't have to walk outside again. I do not want to take my shoes off and on just to use your toilet for five minutes, or every time groceries are loaded in and out. Floors are likely to have bad stuff on them because gravity exists, that's just life, deal with it. Also, it drives me nuts every time another dang hippie tells me to take my shoes off "and get comfortable." No, I am not comfortable doing the flamingo dance in your hallway, falling into piles of shoes, playing slip-n-slide unexpectedly in your kitchen while holding food, showing off my un-matching socks because I didn't know anyone was going to see my feet today (hey, might as well use them sometime, right?), and oh yeah, SMELLING PEOPLE'S FEET. I have less objection to these policies in places where the weather makes it a problem (or in sandal season), but overall, I am not "comfortable" in my socks in someone else's home for hours. It feels weird and wrong, especially if I don't live there.

Though I do not agree with anyone in this podcast, I did appreciate the girl pointing out that yes, some people are actually made deeply uncomfortable by shoes-off policies. They would rather hold it in than go inside your shoe-free home to use your toilet, and then there's the poor bastard that everyone had to smell the stinky feet of. If you insist on having that sort of policy, you're gonna end up being that sort of asshole. I guess that's your priority, though.

As for the suggestion of loaner slippers, the last time I went to a shoe-free home I kept falling out of the slippers. They're probably not going to have the right sizes for everyone.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:40 AM on February 16, 2015 [3 favorites]

I'm not a neat person, but my reaction to the dilemma was that the husband was obviously correct, and that this was similar to folks from a no coaster household visiting a coaster household. You use a coaster. And if you don't use a coaster and put your glass on the table, the host isn't the jerk for asking you to use a coaster.
posted by OnSecondThought at 6:36 PM on February 16, 2015

We have a mostly shoeless house, but I live on the west coast where snow and slush isn't a problem, it's more leaves and dirt on shoes. We simply have a bench with a bunch of our personal shoes below it, and that is enough to get people to understand that they should take their shoes off. If I am having a party, I don't insist, but I do mention it if people ask "Shoes off? Yeah, if you don't mind" is usually how it goes. Instead of having a sign, the pile of shoes under a bench is enough to advertise it and at most events close to 100% of people are walking around in socks without being asked.
posted by mathowie at 9:37 PM on February 16, 2015

Previously: AskMe 1, MeTa survey, AskMe 2
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:52 PM on February 16, 2015

Bonus: AskMe 3: Tradesman Edition.
posted by zamboni at 12:36 PM on February 17, 2015

Huh. The shoes-off thing isn't one I've encountered often in Florida. Probably because everyone wears flip-flops everywhere all the time, so if they take their shoes off it's just sweaty bare feet all over the place.
posted by Kitty Stardust at 1:08 AM on February 18, 2015