No-Shoe Rules

In response to an article in the New York Times this week about how real-estate brokers are making potential buyers remove their shoes during open houses, many Times commenters defended no-shoe rules. I hate having to remove my shoes at other people's homes, and I didn't think I was in the minority, so I was sort of appalled and surprised by the anti-shoe outcry.

I then discovered an entire blog (Shoes Off at the Door, Please) dedicated to the no-shoe rule. In fact, a Google search about the rule yielded many blogs, threads, and other commentaries from people who make their guests remove their shoes at the door.

Is this annoying habit becoming a city-wide trend? Brian at Gawker had a rant about it earlier this year, and then there was an article in the Huffington Post, and now this piece in the Times. I think it's officially a new trend.



I suspect that this is yet another California thing that has overtaken New York.

It made me think of the "Porno Gil" episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm where Larry refuses to remove his shoes at a dinner party. He won't take off his shoes, and in the end, he's screamed at by the enraged hostess: "When you walk through my door you play by my rules! You take off your fucking shoes!"

Apartment Therapy in LA polled their readers a couple of years ago and found that the majority of responders make their guests remove their shoes. So maybe it is a California thing.

Californians definitely have a problem with shoes, in general. In high school, the girl who sat behind me in History class was from California. She put her bare feet all over my chair, and would often walk around school without shoes. Out there, they have a thing about sunshine and grass and being "comfortable."


Anti-shoe rage

But it's not just about California. That Google search I did on the no-shoe rule revealed more about who is enforcing it. Here are the primary suspects:

Moms
"Green" people
Germaphobes
People from Ohio
House fetishists
People who prioritize feeling "cozy"
White-carpet lovers
People who grew up with "mud rooms"
Japanese people (they're excused, it's legitimately cultural)

The germ excuse is a myth. MSNBC interviewed an infectious disease expert on the topic, who said, “If you want to prepare your cheeseboard on the bottom of someone’s shoe and eat it without sterilizing it, you could get yourself infected, but in ordinary life, shoes are not a known risk for infection."

Shaking hands and kissing your guests hello is worse. Said the expert, "Your body has more microbial cells than human cells. You’re more germ than you are you."



So, really, isn't it all about control? Above all, people want to have things the way they want them. Larry David's no-shoe fascist said it clearly: "When you walk through my door you play by my rules!"

In which case, it's time to fight against the no-shoe trend. Become what the no-shoe blogger calls a refusenik.

Don't take off your shoes in other people's apartments (unless they are Japanese, and spending a few weeks on vacation in Japan doesn't count). Don't slip hospital booties over your shoes, either, as many suggest. And don't swap your shoes for the creepy crocheted slippers these people keep in a basket by the door for guests.

Just say no to the no-shoe rule!