etiquette at family homes

Person_one

MrsE wrote: »

No food or drink - other than water upstairs.

You must be starving! :eek:

MrsE_2

fawd1 wrote: »

. I may be flamed for this, but my mum (who was, shall we say, upper class in her background) always used to say that it was not the done thing to ask people to remove their shoes. When I asked her why she thought that she said that as she understood it, from a class perspective, asking someone to remove their shoes signified that they placed their own belonging above the comfort of their guests, and under any circumstances with guests you would always grin and bear it. Plus, even worse, it signified that you didn't have a maid to clean up after you. !

Im happy to be identified as working class, so I wouldnt worry that insisting on no shoes on my carpets or rugs marks me as working class.

peachyprice

What???

How does a beach relate in the slightest to my home? I don't want smelly, sweaty feet and socks, toe jam and bits of toe nail of people I am not related to/close friends with being traipsed around my home.

I don't really care who does what on a beach. I don't care if people parade naked on a beach but that doesn't mean I would want them sitting on my furniture with no underwear on.

Person_one

herand wrote: »

You do know the pavements are quite filthy.

Floors are for feet, shoes are for feet.

The cream carpet fad has a lot to answer for, why would we ever expect our floors to stay perfectly spotlessly clean at all times? Those swirly seventies ones were much more practical for hiding dirt!

MrsE_2

Person_one wrote: »

You must be starving! :eek:

Tweaked:rotfl:

Person_one

MrsE wrote: »

Im happy to be identified as working class, so I wouldnt worry that insisting on no shoes on my carpets or rugs marks me as working class.

Its not a working class thing, more an aspirational lower middle class thing in my experience, very 'Keeping Up Appearances'.

Person_one

herand wrote: »

Dog dirt, spit and all the other grime that's on pavements isn't exactly what you want to bring into your house.

Well I have dogs, and they never wear shoes even when they're running through muddy fields, the place still looks ok most of the time...

Person_one

herand wrote: »

What's class got to do with it? Maybe people just don't want to bring outside grime into their homes and feel more comfortable not wearing shoes.

That's up to them, they are free to take their shoes off of course, but they still shouldn't ask their guests to remove items of clothing!

peachyprice

herand wrote: »

What's class got to do with it? Maybe people just don't want to bring outside grime into their homes and feel more comfortable not wearing shoes.

There's this wonderful invention, it's called a doormat. In civilised families people are trained to wipe their feet when they come inside, it's possible to teach this skill from a very young age, as soon a children are able to wear shoes really.

MrsE_2

Person_one wrote: »

Its not a working class thing, more an aspirational lower middle class thing in my experience, very 'Keeping Up Appearances'.

Ive got a huge white rug in the living room & cream carpets on the stairs & landing and the bedrooms.

I dont want mud or chewing gum, or animal faeces or urine walked in from outside on them, on the hard floors they mop off.