💬 No shoes past our front door, and yes that includes guests

No shoes inside our house, ever. My father put a rack outside the door in 1998 and nothing has changed. Guests get 1 warning, at the door, from my mother. She says it kindly. Then she watches their feet. The electrician who came to fix our fan last month walked in with boots on and a ladder. My mother screamed. Not loud. More like a gasp. He stopped like someone had pulled his collar. He took his boots off right there, apologised 4 times, and fixed the fan barefoot standing on a chair. My mother then gave him tea in our good cups, which she never does for the electrician. He came back 2 weeks later for another job and took his boots off at the gate. Before anyone asked. We have a shoe rack with 4 shelves now. My father calls it the shoe department. My aunt's husband, a very polite man, wore socks with holes in them last Eid. He turned red. He hid his feet under the dining table for the whole meal and refused to stand up for tea. Now my mother keeps a pack of new socks in the drawer by the door. She hands them over like it's normal. Guests are told it's a gift. They keep them. I counted, she's given away 11 pairs this year. I take my sandals off at other people's doors too, even when they say no, no, come in. Last week a neighbour's father stared at my bare feet for a full 5 seconds. I think he was impressed. My father says shoes carry the whole street inside. I don't argue. Our floors are white and I sweep them. Anyway the electrician is coming again on Saturday. My mother has already put the good cups out.

Same rule at our place, shoes stay on the rack outside and guests get a pair of spare slippers. The slippers were my father's idea after a cousin walked around in wet socks in July. Your electrician story is the best part. Ours once refused to come in until we said it was fine. The good cups for him is a nice touch. In my house he'd get the steel glass.

Same rule at our place, and my father in law still forgets every single time he visits despite twelve years of marriage and countless reminders at the door. We keep a small bench right by the entrance now just so nobody has an excuse to skip it. Guests who grew up with the opposite habit always look a little thrown the first time, but they adjust fast enough.