In Hollywood films, we follow the life of heroes and do not always understand why Americans wear shoes at home. They consider it the norm for what we were criticized in childhood, for life enshrining in our minds the idea that such behavior is unacceptable. So why can they, but not us?
Mentality features
U.S. residents often don’t wear slippers. Coming from the street in sneakers or shoes, they can lie in them on a bed with legs. For post-Soviet residents, such manners and traditions seem strange. Perhaps this is just another distortion of reality, which often occur on TV screens? There it was.
Moreover, removing shoes at the entrance to the house is a manifestation of bad taste in the view of Americans. It seems that everything has been turned upside down, if people already live on the opposite side of the globe. Indoor slippers, in their understanding, are unhygienic, because it is not known who wore them before you.
Walking around the house in the same shoes, moccasins, sneakers, sneakers and even boots that are worn on the street is a common thing. They lie on the couch, even if they are in light colors. Of course, all this affects the state of furniture and carpets. For example, light flooring immediately gets dirty in places where it is most trampled upon. Europeans (Germans, Spaniards, British), Australians (it was from them ugg boots that were so fashionable now), Latin Americans also often behave in this way. However, for these peoples it all depends on the weather and way of life adopted in a particular family.
What is the reason?
Answering the question of why Americans wear shoes at home, it is worth noting that among them there are very few hiking enthusiasts. For transportation, mainly own cars and taxis are used. There are not so many pedestrians. Even when their feet come in contact with the ground, a clean street does not get them too dirty.
There, the order in the city is monitored very strictly. If we have pavements and roads swept and sprayed with water at most, they use special substances, as if they wash the floor at home. Therefore, in total, the street is not much dirtier than at home. When visiting guests or in their home, people do not have time to collect dirt during a walk.
Another reason why Americans wear shoes at home is their love of flooring, which is quickly cleaned and washed with a vacuum cleaner. After some time, they are replaced and disposed of. Carpets are usually laid only in bedrooms.
Clean courtyard and street
Watching American films, many residents of high-rise buildings envy note that in the USA there are a lot of private houses. Having a private territory and living there permanently, people care about cleanliness. It is difficult to constantly sit in the house and not go out into the yard, and constantly changing shoes is extremely uncomfortable. If there are few people in the family, it’s easier to once again clean the area, then the dirt will not get into the home.
Curious why Americans wear shoes at home, we approach the issue from the point of view of our own realities, where the cleanliness of the streets is, so to speak, monitored rather mediocre. In the USA, everything is somewhat different.
The state pays great attention to this issue. In addition, citizens have a developed sense of patriotism, a desire to follow family traditions and customs. They understand that they and their children will have to walk on this land, so there is no reason to litter. They will do worse for themselves. So the care of the environment here is carried out on a voluntary basis.
High level of culture
The streets are clean, tidy and always cleaned. Many have heard that the Americans walk the dogs with a shovel and a sachet in order to remove the fruits of life after their pet. We have such a natural fertilizer at every step: lawns, grass and grounds. For some reason, the Americans don’t have a crown falling off their heads and they prevent pollution without any problems.
If our person often complains that everything around is dirty, US residents understand that it is cleanest where they do not litter. Such habits should be instilled from young nails. As part of our mentality, it is extremely difficult to break the established patterns of behavior. If you tell a resident of the Russian Federation to clean up after his dog, the answer will most likely be: “Why should I, if others do not?” But the point is that you just need to start with yourself. A clean American can well afford to walk around the house in street shoes.
Another reason is that busy businessmen, who are quite numerous, do not have time to clean their homes and delegate these powers to hired housekeepers. So they don’t think much about cleanliness.
Weather
The warm climate also plays an important role. In Russia, in the winter, snow, dirt and chemicals that sprinkle the street in addition. Even in transport, it’s hard to keep shoes clean. Often it is not only dirty from below. It is likely to step on top. This is especially true during rush hour, when everyone goes to or from work.
Due to the lack of high borders with rainwater, mud flows out onto the road, and we walk along it safely. Of course, I don’t want to bring this to the house. In the USA, wood chips are used, which absorbs moisture, and after decomposition it turns into fertilizer. Residential areas remain clean and dry, so the same comfortable shoes are worn at home and on the streets.
Features of local roads
If our roadsides are on the same level with the road or higher, then in America they are, on the contrary, lower even by a couple of centimeters. So rain and wind remove debris from the carriageway and passerby. Bringing rubbish into the house becomes much more difficult, even considering that in some states there is slush and snow no weaker than in Russia.
So we can conclude that the Americans created quite sufficient conditions for street comfortable shoes to replace them with slippers, although they are still used in some families where this is customary.
Caring for the cleanliness of the streets allows you not to worry about getting dirty in the apartment. The conscious attitude of citizens to order on the streets and state programs to control this issue made it possible once again not to think about possible dirt.