[CliffFletcher]

If my shoes are clean, I ask if it's okay that I keep them on when I enter someone's house. It started when I had plantar fasciitis, and it was extremely painful to stand in stocking feet for more than a minute or two. Then I just said screw it, the whole taboo around shoes off in parts of North America is just dumb. I think it comes from our rural past, when most roads weren't paved and people walked around muddy farms all day. That, and the popularity of shag carpet in the late 20th century. Because if you've been walking on dry ground, and the house has hardwood floors, there's absolute no need to take off your shoes. In fact, in parts of North America and Europe it's considered disgusting to talk around in stocking feet. The first time I took off my shoes at the door in Scotland my hosts were baffled - they had never seen such a thing and wondered what I was doing.

I've noticed more friends and acquaintances getting onboard with this, so there are lot of places I go now where I can just keep my shoes on without saying anything. Hopefully this anachronistic social taboo around shoes will die out.