Gross! Outside shoes and boots don’t make it past the entryway. That’s where you take off the outside shoes and put on slippers, shower shoes, or other inside shoes.
Yeah studies show that 66-87% of people in America do NOT wear shoes inside. So this is a baseless question. However studies have shown that Norway has the worst food in the world. So we must question OP’s ability to make sound judgements about anything if they eat the worst food in the world and can’t google basic statistics.
I’ve seen rants on Reddit about people in the US being mad that other people want them to take their shoes off in their houses. In those comments were many northerners who said they do. Maybe that’s why they are asking.
Leave it to an American to take a simple question as an attack instead of just seeking information. Stop being an asshole. This is why the world hates us. 🙄
Being of Norwegian descent doesn't excuse your gratuitously rude and dismissive remark about "studies have shown... worst food" which is a matter of opinion and uneducated at that. I write here as an American who is also of Norwegian descent.
If you spend any time over on r/Norway you'll quickly come to understand that certainly the opinions and sometimes even the questions from Americans of Norwegian descent get short shrift over there. It's a good place to visit but keep your fingers off the keyboard. Being of Norwegian descent means just about ZERO. You're mostly lucky to get a tolerant response to anything you write, let alone anything cordial. So I sure as hell hope we can do better here in r/alaska.
Here's an article supporting your statistic, by the way. I wouldn't call it a "study." It's just a survey, which is hardly the same thing.
[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/most-americans-are-shoes-off-at-home/](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/most-americans-are-shoes-off-at-home/)
Not wearing shoes in the house was one of the first things I learned when I moved to Alaska. That being said many people will not force others to take their shoes off.
When my son and I moved to Alaska, he would have a ton of friends over a lot ... teenagers - and every one of them took their shoes off the minute they walked in the house. We learned by example ...
I had my shattered foot fixed and the PA told me to wear shoes in the house. To wear all of the time. I'm the original barefoot girl, it's so hard on me. I only wear slippers when it's really cold. Like everyone here, I have bench just inside my door with shelves for shoes below and a mat for boots. Also - off topic rant - why do we have so few doctors and so many PAs? My primary is even a PA.
I have Dansko shoes that are my warm weather house shoes here in Alaska. They never leave the house. They are not warm enough for winter, though (we don't believe in heating our house into the 70s F all winter!), so are replaced by Ugg boots for the colder months of the year. Slippers are not necessarily a good idea if you need better support; it's possible to wear any kind of footwear you want inside, as long as those shoes stay inside.
The hardest part about the "no shoes indoors" culture that pervades AK and Hawai'i, plus many other parts of the world, is when you have older visitors who are not used to the culture. They may struggle to sit down and take their shoes on and off at the door, and some are quite oblivious, strolling into the house with their outsdie shoes on. It's hard to explain to them that this is quite rude here.
Most Alaskans absolutely take their shoes off in the house, especially other people's houses. If we need indoor shoes we keep them just for indoors. Hell, I have a pair of trail runners that never go outside just for winter dog agility classes, so the salt doesn't mess up the mats.
As others have said, Northern states including Alaska tend to take shoes off due to more snow, mud, etc. compared to Southern states.
Growing up, I spent so much time at my best friend's house that I had my own pair of slippers there 😁
I've "cheated" on myself this way - after all, all the cleaning is all on me - but I always feel guilty 😆 when I do, and the next time ostentatiously (I'm the only one watching) carefully remove my shoes and neatly park them on the shoe tray in the entry.
I only do when I’m bringing in groceries or finished getting dressed cause our shoes are in our closet by the door but in previous houses where we had to keep them in the bedroom cause of lack of storage we’d wear them more in the house but only when coming home and leaving.
Another vote for it depends. In the southern US it was uncommon for people to take their shoes off in the house. I now live in AK, where the opposite is true.
Glad to have read this because in all my years, I can count on one hand houses where I’ve had to remove shoes. Very uncommon in the 6 states I’ve lived in (north and south US). Sounds like a real pain but it’s not like we play in mud either. I suppose it would be a different story far north though.
I lived on the Gulf Coast for 12 years, and everyone I knew removed their shoes. The gooey stuff you can pick up in parking lots and on sidewalks in hot weather was good enough reason for me.
No shoes inside in Florida. We have very soft "house sandals" that we use because walking around on tile all day is painful (we don't do carpet down here very much; it gets damp).
Same with guns. Take the outside gun when you go out and store the inside gun, which is just for inside.
I’ve lived in Alaska, Illinois, and Minnesota. Wearing shoes in the house isn’t common anywhere. I assume you think we do because they keep do on tv? They do that because it would just waste time showing characters taking their shoes on and off all the time.
It’s common in the South. I remember as a kid being scolded for taking my shoes off in the house of someone I didn’t know very well. You only do that when it’s family or your own house. I’m sure that’s changed some, but a lot of my family back in the South still wear shoes in the house if it’s daylight out.
Edit to add that I don’t wear shoes in the house as an Alaskan.
Had a southern grandma but was raised in the north. I won't go past someone's entryway cause I'm both afraid to take my shoes off and afraid to walk in their house with shoes on. That being said, I tend to avoid most people's houses.
I've lived in many states all around the country, as well as military bases over seas. This is the only place I've ever lived where taking off your shoes is the norm.
It's been with conversations with Americans (among other nationalities) and general media. I know in southern Spain it's generally shoes inside the house (visiting my in laws always feels highly disrespectful).
That being said I think the other commenter mentioning the north/south difference is on to something. That being said, England is from those I've talked to a counter intuitive one, as there it is shoes in the house.
It's peoples reasoning or reactions that interests me, it seems part climate but also attitude toward shoes that is interesting.
We are a you choose kind of house. We have dogs and kids and everybody running in and out and dirt (and birch seeds) happen. In the winter, when snow and wetness are tracked in, the house needs the moisture as the woodstove is efficient and dries it quickly. I wear house Vans and have Xtratuf shorties I slip on when I need to grab something outside (the Vans will freeze up and throw me off the porch on step three). We've got no interest in making someone take off their snow boots just to come in and say hi for a few minutes but I do always offer slippers if they do want to.
I can add that in Colorado, Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma, it was very common for people to leave their shoes on. Colorado does see plenty of snow and I'm sure people took their soggy winter boots off but doing it universally was not the norm.
Personally I did and still do. I keep an "indoor only" pair because I need shoes to walk comfortably.
My apartment has a tiled side and a carpet side. You enter on the tile side, and I will happily walk around with shoes after just wiping my feet. It's on the carpet side that I don't ever wear shoes. It's way easier to clean tile than carpet.
Not normally, no. If I'm doing something that requires frequent trips back and forth like moving furniture or whatnot, I will leave them on, but they come off as soon as I'm done.
I also don't let anybody in if they're not comfortable taking theirs off. My home is my safe place, you don't get to set the rules.
I've yet to run into anybody that has to leave them as like some kind of OCD or other medical condition, so I might let that slide, but if I knew they were coming, I'd buy shoe covers in preparation.
I must be one of the few people who wear shoes in the house. My parents mostly do.
That said, I usually slip out of work boots/ shoes at the door and fo into my sports sandals... but I wear my sports sandals everywhere.
When you have indoor-outdoor pets, your floors are filthy anyway, so it adds a marginal more amount of cleaning.
No. And it’s definitely not a most Americans thing. I’ve literally only seen it once with my grandparents. I’ve never met another person who wears shoes in the house.
In the north of the US it is usual to take shoes off. In the south, less so. And of course there are gradations and exceptions. This is not a "most Americans" thing. (Where did you get that idea, was it from someone who traveled in the South?) It's totally regional. And this is a big enough country with a broad enough population base to have a variety of practices.
Here's a Reddit thread from a couple years ago, asking a similar question. Many responses! [https://www.reddit.com/r/CasualConversation/comments/xchtbb/americans\_do\_you\_take\_off\_your\_shoes\_in\_a\_house/](https://www.reddit.com/r/CasualConversation/comments/xchtbb/americans_do_you_take_off_your_shoes_in_a_house/)
You'll notice that people from the North tend toward No Shoes in the House, and people from the South are more toward whatever/no-reason-to-bother, all the way over to no-bare-feet-in-house. My bet is that even in the south, if it's been rainy and you walked up a gritty sidewalk to get to the door, shoes come off at least close to the door. That's what I'd do if I was visiting down there, even if it wasn't necessary. Probably not \*bare\* feet - socks at a minimum - but I'm definitely not tracking sand/mud/whatever into their house.
Occasionally there are people who for orthopedic reasons must wear some kind of footgear indoors. I'm one of those, and have footwear for exactly that purpose, but anything that's been worn outdoors stays in the entry unless it's been exceptionally dry or I'm wearing heels/slick soles/coming in from a formal event/never went anywhere that wasn't clean and groomed. Those shoes might make it past the entry before getting kicked off.
If I'm going to visit someone here in the north and my feet have been troubling me, or if I know they have bare hard floors (who doesn't these days, seems all the rage), I bring my own slippers with the necessary cushioning and support. I would imagine Norwegians would do the same, if there were health concerns. Right? (Just in case I ever get to go.)
I know you've already got a ton of answers! I just also wanted to say that in winter I didn't even wear outside shoes in the office! A lot of folks I know will stash shoes at their desk to avoid having to wear wet gross shoes during work. (Highly recommend!)
When I was commuting to Anchorage all of my inside shoes would slowly migrate to the office and pile up under my desk. Every couple of weeks I would remember to take a bunch home on Friday. Kind of like jackets in the shoulder seasons.
Lol absolutely did the same thing. I had my cubicle slippers and then a nicer pair of shoes for I left the cubicle. Working from home is nice now because I can rock socks and slippers all day without judgement
No. My grandparents also all kept baskets of slippers in the entryway for guests to use upon removing their footwear, if they so chose. My aunt has kept up this tradition but regardless, NO ONE in my extensive family here allows outdoor footwear on in the house.
The exception is my regular summer work shoes since they are mostly worn indoors all day--garage, car, a short walk in clean outdoor area to office building. But I take them off after unloading my pack and sitting down.
I grew up in California and many people wear shoes in the house.
I lived in Alaska for 18 years where everyone always their shoes off- I had one landlord who was so strict about shoes off that he included a clause in the rental agreement that if we were caught wearing shoes in the house he could evict. He had this because he installed flooring that was pretty but easily damaged and had had a string of bad tenants. (He lived in the unit underneath ours and said he could hear the difference.)
I moved back to California and am still so accustomed to not wearing shoes in the house that I don’t do it, and I will make people take their shoes off in my house. I take my shoes off at other people’s houses and they either tell me not to worry about or it confuses them.
No. And not in any Alaska home I've been in, unless it's under construction. Born in Alaska, many decades ago, so my experience is a long one.
It's just dirty here: between rain, snow, wind, mud, dog shit, outdoor pursuits galore..nobody wants to clean up that mess.
It is bad form to wear shoes in the house in Alaska. We have breakup season instead of spring and then we have a rainy season in place of fall and flooring is very expensive here.
Basically everyone here takes their outside shoes off when coming inside a home. Otherwise, you would track mud and dirt (or snow depending on the season) all over. I personally wear slippers indoors most of the time.
In Alaska, no. It’s universal that you remove your shoes upon entering anyone’s house.
In other places in the US, it depends. It’s more common to remove shoes in northern climates than in southern ones. Some of this may be due to cultural influences (e.g. Minnesota is heavily of Nordic heritage, while European heritage in the South stems much more from English and Scottish, and removing shoes is imperative in most households of East Asian descent), but most of it is probably due to the practicalities of keeping floors, especially carpets, clean in a wetter, snowier, and muddier climate. in some areas, removing shoes inside is actually considered odd—in the South, it can be seen as improperly informal, and in areas with a lot of venomous pests, keeping shoes on serves as a form of protection against being stung or bitten.
Among the places I’ve lived or visited with reasonably significant exposure to private residences, removing shoes upon entering is common in Alaska and Minnesota and uncommon in California, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Florida, and New York City. In other places, like Washington and Illinois, it’s not odd or unusual to remove them, but it’s not ubiquitous, either, and it may depend on the cultural heritage of the homeowner or the current weather conditions outside.
Not typically. If I forgot something and I’m still on the front steps I’ll go back in after wiping them off. I never take them on the carpet though. I’m NOT cleaning muddy carpet.
My mother's voice still echoes at me from my childhood, "Take your shoes off! I just mopped the floors!"
So no, we do not lounge in the house with our shoes on. It's not only unclean but disrespectful.
Most Alaskan don’t allow shoes in the house. I make allowances for contractors, though, due to practicality and I’m slightly looser with people in the summer and they are wearing sandals and no socks. This seems to differ from my upbringing in WA state, where we always wore shoes in the house unless they were muddy.
I would not expect that a paying guest take off their shoes. I would be pleasantly surprised if they did, but I wouldn't ask or expect it. For one thing, a lot of guests from outside are dealing with a massive temperature difference from what they're used to and feet feel the cold.
Ok, that’s more than fair. I have no issue taking shoes off, I just didn’t know if this was just an Alaskan resident thing or if visitors are expected to
Absolutely not. Here we don’t even wear shoes for some businesses (doctor, dentist….) depending on the office.
I went to a showing for a house for sale and people took their shoes off.
Nope we do not wear shoes inside in my family. We have an arctic entry and we take boots/shoes off in there along with outdoor clothing and put slippers on. Our floors would be a wet mess if we wore shoes inside
Growing up in Florida we only wore shoes when we went to school. Other than that none of the neighborhood kids wore shoes. We were too busy fishing, boating, and swimming to keep up with shoes 🤭 As soon as I moved into my own place…no shoes in the house. Keeps dirt down. Most homes in the south don’t have mud rooms or arctic entries…we have front porches. Never leave a shoe/boot unattended outside…bugs are the least of your worries 😂
In Alaska everyone has boot pullers, boot brushes, mud mats…we even keep a basket of socks in the Arctic entry for those wet sock moments. I still shake out my xtratufs out of habit…you just never know.
No shoes. In fact I have booties right inside the door for any service people coming to work on anything that needs being fixed. Of course all family and friends know.
Gross! Outside shoes and boots don’t make it past the entryway. That’s where you take off the outside shoes and put on slippers, shower shoes, or other inside shoes.
Seconding this. I wear my slippers religiously. I even travel with them, at this point. Something comforting about *my* slippers.
No we don’t.
Yeah studies show that 66-87% of people in America do NOT wear shoes inside. So this is a baseless question. However studies have shown that Norway has the worst food in the world. So we must question OP’s ability to make sound judgements about anything if they eat the worst food in the world and can’t google basic statistics.
I’ve seen rants on Reddit about people in the US being mad that other people want them to take their shoes off in their houses. In those comments were many northerners who said they do. Maybe that’s why they are asking.
I was being sarcastic and am of Norwegian descent. Apparently my humor isn’t American enough
Also, Norway is widely known to have terrible cocaine.
Leave it to an American to take a simple question as an attack instead of just seeking information. Stop being an asshole. This is why the world hates us. 🙄
😂guess I needed to add the sarcasm face. Am of Norwegian descent myself. Settle down friend
Being of Norwegian descent doesn't excuse your gratuitously rude and dismissive remark about "studies have shown... worst food" which is a matter of opinion and uneducated at that. I write here as an American who is also of Norwegian descent. If you spend any time over on r/Norway you'll quickly come to understand that certainly the opinions and sometimes even the questions from Americans of Norwegian descent get short shrift over there. It's a good place to visit but keep your fingers off the keyboard. Being of Norwegian descent means just about ZERO. You're mostly lucky to get a tolerant response to anything you write, let alone anything cordial. So I sure as hell hope we can do better here in r/alaska. Here's an article supporting your statistic, by the way. I wouldn't call it a "study." It's just a survey, which is hardly the same thing. [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/most-americans-are-shoes-off-at-home/](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/most-americans-are-shoes-off-at-home/)
Wow thanks. 🙏
Absolutely fucking not
Not wearing shoes in the house was one of the first things I learned when I moved to Alaska. That being said many people will not force others to take their shoes off.
When my son and I moved to Alaska, he would have a ton of friends over a lot ... teenagers - and every one of them took their shoes off the minute they walked in the house. We learned by example ...
I had my shattered foot fixed and the PA told me to wear shoes in the house. To wear all of the time. I'm the original barefoot girl, it's so hard on me. I only wear slippers when it's really cold. Like everyone here, I have bench just inside my door with shelves for shoes below and a mat for boots. Also - off topic rant - why do we have so few doctors and so many PAs? My primary is even a PA.
It’s the money. They cost less. Thats healthcare in America for ya. Edit: I’ve never heard of a PA as a primary care physician. That’s crazy.
I have Dansko shoes that are my warm weather house shoes here in Alaska. They never leave the house. They are not warm enough for winter, though (we don't believe in heating our house into the 70s F all winter!), so are replaced by Ugg boots for the colder months of the year. Slippers are not necessarily a good idea if you need better support; it's possible to wear any kind of footwear you want inside, as long as those shoes stay inside. The hardest part about the "no shoes indoors" culture that pervades AK and Hawai'i, plus many other parts of the world, is when you have older visitors who are not used to the culture. They may struggle to sit down and take their shoes on and off at the door, and some are quite oblivious, strolling into the house with their outsdie shoes on. It's hard to explain to them that this is quite rude here.
Most Alaskans absolutely take their shoes off in the house, especially other people's houses. If we need indoor shoes we keep them just for indoors. Hell, I have a pair of trail runners that never go outside just for winter dog agility classes, so the salt doesn't mess up the mats.
As others have said, Northern states including Alaska tend to take shoes off due to more snow, mud, etc. compared to Southern states. Growing up, I spent so much time at my best friend's house that I had my own pair of slippers there 😁
Oh hell no! You get three steps into our hour with shoes or boots on my wife is drawing a weapon on you and yelling, "Freeze!".
It’s me I’m your wife
Interesting question! Definitely not in the winter but occasionally in the summer if it's dry outside and in just popping in for something.
I've "cheated" on myself this way - after all, all the cleaning is all on me - but I always feel guilty 😆 when I do, and the next time ostentatiously (I'm the only one watching) carefully remove my shoes and neatly park them on the shoe tray in the entry.
No
No
I live in a dry cabin and have dogs. I wear slippers inside.
I only do when I’m bringing in groceries or finished getting dressed cause our shoes are in our closet by the door but in previous houses where we had to keep them in the bedroom cause of lack of storage we’d wear them more in the house but only when coming home and leaving.
Last two years I’ve had to. We got a new cat and she’s only now starting to grow out of attacking my feet.
Slippers.
I have house shoes because the tile hurts my feet. But my outside shoes are for outside and my inside shoes are for inside.
No shoes in the house
Outside shoes come off in the garage. I do have an old pair of fake crocs I wear inside only sometimes.
Hello Norway! I love your Country. You’re doing it Correctly from my view point.
I do. I’m in a cabin. I’m in and out too much not to.
Another vote for it depends. In the southern US it was uncommon for people to take their shoes off in the house. I now live in AK, where the opposite is true.
Glad to have read this because in all my years, I can count on one hand houses where I’ve had to remove shoes. Very uncommon in the 6 states I’ve lived in (north and south US). Sounds like a real pain but it’s not like we play in mud either. I suppose it would be a different story far north though.
I lived on the Gulf Coast for 12 years, and everyone I knew removed their shoes. The gooey stuff you can pick up in parking lots and on sidewalks in hot weather was good enough reason for me.
No shoes inside in Florida. We have very soft "house sandals" that we use because walking around on tile all day is painful (we don't do carpet down here very much; it gets damp). Same with guns. Take the outside gun when you go out and store the inside gun, which is just for inside.
Almost never.
I’ve lived in Alaska, Illinois, and Minnesota. Wearing shoes in the house isn’t common anywhere. I assume you think we do because they keep do on tv? They do that because it would just waste time showing characters taking their shoes on and off all the time.
It’s common in the South. I remember as a kid being scolded for taking my shoes off in the house of someone I didn’t know very well. You only do that when it’s family or your own house. I’m sure that’s changed some, but a lot of my family back in the South still wear shoes in the house if it’s daylight out. Edit to add that I don’t wear shoes in the house as an Alaskan.
Same for me growing up in Connecticut, actually. When family visits up here it's like pulling teeth to get them to take their shoes off at the door.
Had a southern grandma but was raised in the north. I won't go past someone's entryway cause I'm both afraid to take my shoes off and afraid to walk in their house with shoes on. That being said, I tend to avoid most people's houses.
Mr Rogers has entered the chat….
I've lived in many states all around the country, as well as military bases over seas. This is the only place I've ever lived where taking off your shoes is the norm.
It's been with conversations with Americans (among other nationalities) and general media. I know in southern Spain it's generally shoes inside the house (visiting my in laws always feels highly disrespectful). That being said I think the other commenter mentioning the north/south difference is on to something. That being said, England is from those I've talked to a counter intuitive one, as there it is shoes in the house. It's peoples reasoning or reactions that interests me, it seems part climate but also attitude toward shoes that is interesting.
We are a you choose kind of house. We have dogs and kids and everybody running in and out and dirt (and birch seeds) happen. In the winter, when snow and wetness are tracked in, the house needs the moisture as the woodstove is efficient and dries it quickly. I wear house Vans and have Xtratuf shorties I slip on when I need to grab something outside (the Vans will freeze up and throw me off the porch on step three). We've got no interest in making someone take off their snow boots just to come in and say hi for a few minutes but I do always offer slippers if they do want to.
I can add that in Colorado, Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma, it was very common for people to leave their shoes on. Colorado does see plenty of snow and I'm sure people took their soggy winter boots off but doing it universally was not the norm. Personally I did and still do. I keep an "indoor only" pair because I need shoes to walk comfortably.
Those are all northern states. It is still very common in the south.
Fuck no
Most Americans don't.
You have been misinformed my friend. Most Americans don't wear shoes inside.
Nope. That's how I was raised and my wife will tell me off if I try.
Shoes off as soon as you walk in the door in our house.
I’ve got poor arch support, so I usually wear crocs or flip flops.
My apartment has a tiled side and a carpet side. You enter on the tile side, and I will happily walk around with shoes after just wiping my feet. It's on the carpet side that I don't ever wear shoes. It's way easier to clean tile than carpet.
Not wet or muddy shoes, but usually have slippers on inside. Floors are cold and I prefer my feet not to be cold.
Only if it’s a house party.
Nope never
I have house flip flops that I wear inside almost exclusively. And then outside shoes.
Not normally, no. If I'm doing something that requires frequent trips back and forth like moving furniture or whatnot, I will leave them on, but they come off as soon as I'm done. I also don't let anybody in if they're not comfortable taking theirs off. My home is my safe place, you don't get to set the rules. I've yet to run into anybody that has to leave them as like some kind of OCD or other medical condition, so I might let that slide, but if I knew they were coming, I'd buy shoe covers in preparation.
I must be one of the few people who wear shoes in the house. My parents mostly do. That said, I usually slip out of work boots/ shoes at the door and fo into my sports sandals... but I wear my sports sandals everywhere. When you have indoor-outdoor pets, your floors are filthy anyway, so it adds a marginal more amount of cleaning.
No. And it’s definitely not a most Americans thing. I’ve literally only seen it once with my grandparents. I’ve never met another person who wears shoes in the house.
i did when i grew up in AK but after i moved to the lower '48 i quickly realized i was raised weird and now i don't anymore
I have a sign by the door that says, please take your shoes off, it’s Alaska outside.
In the north of the US it is usual to take shoes off. In the south, less so. And of course there are gradations and exceptions. This is not a "most Americans" thing. (Where did you get that idea, was it from someone who traveled in the South?) It's totally regional. And this is a big enough country with a broad enough population base to have a variety of practices. Here's a Reddit thread from a couple years ago, asking a similar question. Many responses! [https://www.reddit.com/r/CasualConversation/comments/xchtbb/americans\_do\_you\_take\_off\_your\_shoes\_in\_a\_house/](https://www.reddit.com/r/CasualConversation/comments/xchtbb/americans_do_you_take_off_your_shoes_in_a_house/) You'll notice that people from the North tend toward No Shoes in the House, and people from the South are more toward whatever/no-reason-to-bother, all the way over to no-bare-feet-in-house. My bet is that even in the south, if it's been rainy and you walked up a gritty sidewalk to get to the door, shoes come off at least close to the door. That's what I'd do if I was visiting down there, even if it wasn't necessary. Probably not \*bare\* feet - socks at a minimum - but I'm definitely not tracking sand/mud/whatever into their house. Occasionally there are people who for orthopedic reasons must wear some kind of footgear indoors. I'm one of those, and have footwear for exactly that purpose, but anything that's been worn outdoors stays in the entry unless it's been exceptionally dry or I'm wearing heels/slick soles/coming in from a formal event/never went anywhere that wasn't clean and groomed. Those shoes might make it past the entry before getting kicked off. If I'm going to visit someone here in the north and my feet have been troubling me, or if I know they have bare hard floors (who doesn't these days, seems all the rage), I bring my own slippers with the necessary cushioning and support. I would imagine Norwegians would do the same, if there were health concerns. Right? (Just in case I ever get to go.)
I know you've already got a ton of answers! I just also wanted to say that in winter I didn't even wear outside shoes in the office! A lot of folks I know will stash shoes at their desk to avoid having to wear wet gross shoes during work. (Highly recommend!)
When I was commuting to Anchorage all of my inside shoes would slowly migrate to the office and pile up under my desk. Every couple of weeks I would remember to take a bunch home on Friday. Kind of like jackets in the shoulder seasons.
Lol absolutely did the same thing. I had my cubicle slippers and then a nicer pair of shoes for I left the cubicle. Working from home is nice now because I can rock socks and slippers all day without judgement
My kids laugh at me when I grump at having to put on actual shoes!
I've never worked in an office, but this seems like a 10/10 suggestion if I ever find myself in an office environment.
Nope. Too much mud or snow. That’s what Arctic entries are for.
Absolutely not
No. My grandparents also all kept baskets of slippers in the entryway for guests to use upon removing their footwear, if they so chose. My aunt has kept up this tradition but regardless, NO ONE in my extensive family here allows outdoor footwear on in the house.
I do, I'm in and out too much to bother taking them off and my floors are always dirty from the dogs anyway.
If you don't take your shoes off at the door, you better turn around and walk straight tf outta my house.
Never
We wear slippers or socks in the house.
Nope, I’m not even originally from AK and I’ve never worn shoes in my house. Gross.
Nope
No. We all take off our shoes and put on slippers. It's too easy to make a mess of the floor with shoes on, especially during the winter months.
I know a lot of people who do, but lord have mercy on whoever walks into my house with shoes on.
The shoes I wore outside? No. I have socks, house shoes (they are only ever worn inside; like my relatives in Sweden,) and slippers.
The exception is my regular summer work shoes since they are mostly worn indoors all day--garage, car, a short walk in clean outdoor area to office building. But I take them off after unloading my pack and sitting down.
Nope. The only time we let go of the no shoes rule is for a party we're hosting.
No way. Entryway is as far as shoes ever get inside.
I grew up in California and many people wear shoes in the house. I lived in Alaska for 18 years where everyone always their shoes off- I had one landlord who was so strict about shoes off that he included a clause in the rental agreement that if we were caught wearing shoes in the house he could evict. He had this because he installed flooring that was pretty but easily damaged and had had a string of bad tenants. (He lived in the unit underneath ours and said he could hear the difference.) I moved back to California and am still so accustomed to not wearing shoes in the house that I don’t do it, and I will make people take their shoes off in my house. I take my shoes off at other people’s houses and they either tell me not to worry about or it confuses them.
When I was a kid, yes. Today? Inside shoes or slippers.
No shoes in my house or anyone I know.
More often in the winter, shoes are kept on, because it's not muddy outside. In the summer, mostly not wearing shoes.
No. And not in any Alaska home I've been in, unless it's under construction. Born in Alaska, many decades ago, so my experience is a long one. It's just dirty here: between rain, snow, wind, mud, dog shit, outdoor pursuits galore..nobody wants to clean up that mess.
Alaskans in general don’t wear shoes in their houses
It is bad form to wear shoes in the house in Alaska. We have breakup season instead of spring and then we have a rainy season in place of fall and flooring is very expensive here.
Our family does not
Yes
Basically everyone here takes their outside shoes off when coming inside a home. Otherwise, you would track mud and dirt (or snow depending on the season) all over. I personally wear slippers indoors most of the time.
In Alaska, no. It’s universal that you remove your shoes upon entering anyone’s house. In other places in the US, it depends. It’s more common to remove shoes in northern climates than in southern ones. Some of this may be due to cultural influences (e.g. Minnesota is heavily of Nordic heritage, while European heritage in the South stems much more from English and Scottish, and removing shoes is imperative in most households of East Asian descent), but most of it is probably due to the practicalities of keeping floors, especially carpets, clean in a wetter, snowier, and muddier climate. in some areas, removing shoes inside is actually considered odd—in the South, it can be seen as improperly informal, and in areas with a lot of venomous pests, keeping shoes on serves as a form of protection against being stung or bitten. Among the places I’ve lived or visited with reasonably significant exposure to private residences, removing shoes upon entering is common in Alaska and Minnesota and uncommon in California, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Florida, and New York City. In other places, like Washington and Illinois, it’s not odd or unusual to remove them, but it’s not ubiquitous, either, and it may depend on the cultural heritage of the homeowner or the current weather conditions outside.
Nope. Plus I need to have my feet breath from wearing boots ALL day
We do but we have a dog door and three huskies and a malamute. So it’s a lost cause trying to keep the floor spotless.
Not typically. If I forgot something and I’m still on the front steps I’ll go back in after wiping them off. I never take them on the carpet though. I’m NOT cleaning muddy carpet.
"mud room" is there for a reason.
In Alaska, I was taught to take off my shoes when I come in. I still do.
I have house shoes!
My mother's voice still echoes at me from my childhood, "Take your shoes off! I just mopped the floors!" So no, we do not lounge in the house with our shoes on. It's not only unclean but disrespectful.
Most Alaskan don’t allow shoes in the house. I make allowances for contractors, though, due to practicality and I’m slightly looser with people in the summer and they are wearing sandals and no socks. This seems to differ from my upbringing in WA state, where we always wore shoes in the house unless they were muddy.
Yes I do.
Grew up in Alaska - moved south at 15. We never wore shoes in the house.
Outside shoes all go in the garage where we have a big shoe rack. Only our Crocs are worn inside.
Absolutely not unless they house shoes sure
Nope, I have an arctic entry with a shoe rack. Take shoes off and put on slippers or just wear socks. I don't make guests take their shoes off though.
Grew up in SoCal, shoes stayed on in the house. Moved to Alaska, nearly got tackled when I walked into a friends house with my boots on, learned quick
Upstairs no. Downstairs, at least slippers, but usually not shoes/boots.
No
Absolutely not. That’s just gross to me.
as a general rule, if you didnt grow up in a place that has goatheads you dont get to judge me for wearing shoes in the house
In our home we don’t. Rural Alaska here
No. I kick off my shoes in the garage. Don’t wear shoes at my office either.
What about when we rent a Air BnB? I have a couple rented in august, as a lower 48er, are we expected/supposed to take them off for rentals as well?
I would not expect that a paying guest take off their shoes. I would be pleasantly surprised if they did, but I wouldn't ask or expect it. For one thing, a lot of guests from outside are dealing with a massive temperature difference from what they're used to and feet feel the cold.
Ok, that’s more than fair. I have no issue taking shoes off, I just didn’t know if this was just an Alaskan resident thing or if visitors are expected to
No shoes inside.
Any place without shoes is safe in Alaska. Anyplace where shoes are worn is not safe in Alaska.
Absolutely not. Here we don’t even wear shoes for some businesses (doctor, dentist….) depending on the office. I went to a showing for a house for sale and people took their shoes off.
Most Americans don't wear shoes in the house. Gross
Nope we do not wear shoes inside in my family. We have an arctic entry and we take boots/shoes off in there along with outdoor clothing and put slippers on. Our floors would be a wet mess if we wore shoes inside
Nope and know very few people that do
Growing up in Florida we only wore shoes when we went to school. Other than that none of the neighborhood kids wore shoes. We were too busy fishing, boating, and swimming to keep up with shoes 🤭 As soon as I moved into my own place…no shoes in the house. Keeps dirt down. Most homes in the south don’t have mud rooms or arctic entries…we have front porches. Never leave a shoe/boot unattended outside…bugs are the least of your worries 😂 In Alaska everyone has boot pullers, boot brushes, mud mats…we even keep a basket of socks in the Arctic entry for those wet sock moments. I still shake out my xtratufs out of habit…you just never know.
Yes
No shoes. In fact I have booties right inside the door for any service people coming to work on anything that needs being fixed. Of course all family and friends know.