When I was little, my mother had a fetish for white carpets. Never mind there were 4 kids under 12 in our house. If we got so much as a speck of dirt on that carpet, we were spanked. Any wonder we learned to take our shoes off at the door? Ever since, I’ve hung this poem of mine, which my oldest engraved in wood, on the front door of every home I’ve lived in. My kids often balked at having to take their shoes off. When they were teenagers, and I kept clean socks by the door for their friends to put on, there was significant eye rolling.
At first, my insistence had less to do with germs and more to do with cleanliness, but that has changed. A University of Arizona study says that the average shoe carries 421,000 units of bacteria and that 96% of our shoes are contaminated with E. coli. Think about it: wearing your shoes inside, spreads fecal matter from the kitchen to the bedroom. Recently, an audience member wearing flip flops at The Today Show, had his shoes swabbed. They were loaded with bacterial and fungal microbes which cause diseases like meningitis and pneumonia, as well as respiratory infections.
Still not convinced? Even Mr. Rogers took off his outdoor shoes and changed into house slippers upon entering his house. In Asia, Europe and the Mid East, wearing shoes in someone’s house is a sign of disrespect. Why? Because the average floor is thousands of times filthier than the average toilet seat. Dust mites, allergens and mold accumulate on dirty floors, and trigger respiratory issues such as asthma and allergies. Add a little dog hair and it’s nothing to sneeze at. It can cause long-term, debilitating, health problems.
Over the years, visitors to my home have made all kinds of excuses to keep their shoes on. One fellow said he couldn’t possibly take off his shoes because his feet stank. So, I gave him shoe covers which I keep handy in a basket by the door. A girlfriend once refused to remove her heels saying, “I can’t walk flat-footed!” Turns out my quirkiness paid off. Recently, I visited my youngest at her new apartment in LA. Outside her door was a pile of shoes. On the door above was a note that read: “This is a shoeless house.” Indeed.