fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2501

[ SECRET POST #2501

⌈ Secret Post #2501 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

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02.

[American Horror Story]

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03.

[Beverly Hills, 90210]

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04.

[Homeland]

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05.

[Skins]

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06.

[Signs]

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07.

[Downton Abbey]

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08.

[Epic Rap Battles of History]

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09.

[Mass Effect]

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10.

[orange is the new black]

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11.

[The Swapper]

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12.

[Rune Factory 4]

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13.

[Skyrim]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 020 secrets from Secret Submission Post #357.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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Yeah, so I had a paragraph typed up but I kept only coming up with negative stuff, which I think would distort the overall great year I spent in the US.

Generalizing is bad, you know, and many of the differences have more to do with living in the city/in the country and other dichotomies like that rather than in the US/Europe.

Bad stuff is okay to put! But I appreciate the sentiment that generalizing is bad. Though I think there are stuff that are safe to say are "generally American", the US - like any country, really - has a lot of regions that do things differently.

I was actually shocked when non-American told me her disdain that Americans don't take shoes off while in the house. I told her at the time she was misunderstanding, that isn't true, normal people take off their shoes unless they maybe have to run and grab something for five seconds. But apparently in some parts of the States this is more normal? I don't know. So yeah, lots of stuff is regional. Not everything, though.

Seriously, though, I'll trust that posters are being as fair as possible and understand that experiences don't reflect everyone's. :)

I think it's so weird that people leave their shoes on in the house. Shoes are always the first things that come off when I'm home. If I go to someone else's house, I ask if it's okay to take my shoes off if it's my first time over and no one has said no.

ayrt

Are you American? But yeah, I agree, shoes should be taken off in the house. I lived in Japan, where they believed they were the only country in the world to take off their shoes, and yeah. I've only known one American family that kept their shoes on, which probably had something to do with their house being really disgusting - I didn't take off my shoes there for fear of stepping on something dangerous or sticky. Otherwise, taking off shoes for me is the norm and should be enforced. lol

DA

American here - and I wear them inside because...well. Half the time I'm stopping inside for a short time before heading back out, so there's no point in taking them off. Plus my home is also where the family business is based which means it's entirely possible that there are needles and other nasty-to-step-on guff on the floor you can't see.

* The guff is all business related [and mainly various sewing instrument related]. So it's not because it's ~disgusting~.

And for whatever it's worth, I've only known person who actually makes it an "enforced" thing to take your shoes off at their place. It's just not common here.

What's guff???

Re: To Non-Americans who have visited America

(Anonymous) - 2013-11-08 01:35 (UTC) - Expand

Re: To Non-Americans who have visited America

(Anonymous) - 2013-11-08 01:49 (UTC) - Expand

Re: To Non-Americans who have visited America

(Anonymous) - 2013-11-08 04:43 (UTC) - Expand

Yeah, I'm American.

Yeah, I wear shoes in the house because the floors are filthy. If I wear socks only, the bottoms turn gray in only a few minutes. I don't like dirty feet or crumbs sticking to my feet, and there's the potential for splinters with the wood floors, so I keep my shoes on.

I don't even like stepping out of the shower barefoot. There's always stuff on the floor (or on the mat, when there is one) so I leave my discarded clothing that is going to go in the laundry on the floor so I can stand on that before I put my socks on.

Of course, houses where shoes aren't allowed on in the house don't have any of these problems.

Crazy idea: Clean the floors?

Maybe your floors are filthy because you wear shoes in the house?

I'm an American and the only friends' houses I take my shoes off in are Asian. In my house it is standard to keep your shoes on until you reach the place where you take them off. My sister and I keep our shoes in our bedrooms, my dad and brother keep their shoes in the laundry room (because they are gross and their shoes are not to be worn where the rest of us step) and mom keeps her shoes by the side door.

But... don't basically all houses/apartments have shoe/coat closets by the door? I understand the idea of keeping them in your room, but I can't really get wearing them farther when the closet is right there. :P

Re: To Non-Americans who have visited America

shortysc22 - 2013-11-08 03:52 (UTC) - Expand

Oh dear.

We leave shoes on in the house because it's all hard wood and cold. We change to slippers later. We don't wear our shoes inside if they're muddy.

I don't think your house will be disgusting because of this if you ACTUALLY CLEAN THE FLOORS. So either your friends just don't fucking clean or you have really weird standards.

When is later? Like an hour or what? So you will wear your shoes but also slippers - just later?

I really don't get it.

Re: To Non-Americans who have visited America

chardmonster - 2013-11-08 03:05 (UTC) - Expand

We lived out on the outskirts of town for a little bit and we had a slight scorpion problem, so for all those years we always kept our shoes on in the house. When we moved, we didn't have to worry so much so now we usually take our shoes off inside now. I never realized there was such a clear divide. For us it's always been whatever feels comfortable at the time.

The shoes thing is a regional thing. Because in some parts it's seen as rude to keep your shoes on in a house your visiting because the thought is you are going to dirty up the floors. While in other parts of the country it's seen rude to take off your shoes as in you are making yourself to familiar in a house that is not yours. The difference comes from who immigrated there. Like in Hawaii, you have a large Japanese population. So, shoes come off because that's how it is done in Japan. While in Connecticut you have a large English and Dutch population, so, shoes stay on because that's how it is done in those countries.

What you do in the US depends greatly on who settled there.

I'm from Minnesota, and it's definitely expected to take off your shoes unless your host insists that it's okay. I don't know if it's a cultural thing, or just because in the winter (and we have massive, long winters), shoes are wet and disgusting and trailing mud/dirty water is noticeable.

I'm from Minnesota as well, and that's the same with what I've noticed. I always take off my shoes coming into my house, and it's generally expected you do so, too. Around here I don't know if I've ever encountered someone who doesn't do this.

I am assuming it has to do with the whole winter thing, though; when there are many months where your shoes will probably be disgusting, it tends to become a habit.

Yep! It also depends on the household.

I grew up on a ranch, where people are running in and out all day with no time to take their boots off, tracking mud and manure and grime and stickers and straw all through the house. We wore shoes or slippers in the house, always. (Actually, even wearing sandals is kind of a strange idea for me. ~~what if there was a rattlesnake or scorpion or it got too cold you would be fucked!~~)

To me, the idea of taking your shoes off in someone's house is really alien. I've never actually been to a house where guests were expected to take off their shoes, but I imagine if I did get asked to I'd be pretty shocked and a little put off. For me, walking around in socks or hose or barefoot seems really gross.

Never, ever come to my house. I have trouble enough keeping the damn carpet clean without someone wandering around in their outside shoes and then getting persnickety about being asked to take them off.

I agree with you and also think the context of the visit matters. When I go to my friend's houses, I always take off my shoes and they do the same when visiting me. If my boss invited me over for dinner, I would not take off my shoes unless she asked me to or she and her family were shoeless.

Chiming in with the shoes thing, I often leave them on because they help keep my feet warm, but I take them off if they're dirty or wet. It depends a lot on comfort. People will sometimes ask "should I take my shoes off?" when they visit someone's house for the first time, just as a matter of practicality. I've never known someone to be offended because someone did or didn't want others to take off their shoes in their home.

American here, and my family never really had any emphasis about taking shoes off in the house, so I tend to leave mine on around the house until I've sat down for about 5 minutes and noticed I still have them on. I tend not to even think to ask about it in other people's homes unless I notice a pile of shoes by the door, in which case I'll take mine off.

My feet also tend to get cold, but for some reason I feel really weird wearing socks without shoes, so I tend to keep the shoes on indoors if it's cold out.

I lived in five states.

Hawaii and Washington both take their shoes off pretty much always. I think Hawaii is even more extreme than Japan because in many cases people don't even bring their shoes inside; we just leave them outside by the front door.

Florida was about 75% leave off. I had several friends who often kept their's on. A couple times I had to ask them to please take their shoes off when visiting my apartment.

And then Virginia and Ohio from my experience were pretty much mixed. North Virginia seemed to take them off more than Southern Virginia, but it's been over 10 years since I lived in either region, so my memory's not the best.

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