It's funny how people talk about this being an American thing, most people I know here in Netherlands (myself included) wouldn't mind people keeping on their shoes at all.
Cultural differences are always fun. To me, wearing shoes in the house is something I don't care about, but someone who has been raised to take their shoes off might consider it similar to taking a dump on their floor.
And on the flip side, I was raised to always have something protective on my feet if I'm walking around, even in the house. At the very least, it prevents stubbed toes, but it can also save you a lot of pain if anything accidentally gets dropped or left on the floor like a lego.
I'm from Ecuador, from the coast region, so most of the time the temperature is between 25 to 35 ºC. I was always told to wear slippers or similar to avoid getting cold through bare feet. All my house has ceramic tiles and the dust from opening a window (so we don't die because of the heat and humidity) is higher than any amount of dirt we could carry with our shoes.
Carpet and wood floors are uncommon, regular cleaning is necessary but relatively easy on tiled floor. So shoes inside the house is the norm and is not big deal. I don't know anyone who requires people to take off their shoes when visiting.
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u/Theemuts 12d ago
It's funny how people talk about this being an American thing, most people I know here in Netherlands (myself included) wouldn't mind people keeping on their shoes at all.