Toe the line when it comes to shoes indoors

The following column was originally published in 2015, before the pandemic.

Dear Annie: “Clean Shoes in Wisconsin” objected to his sister-in-law asking him to remove his shoes in her house. Yikes. Outdoor shoes in the house?

The University of Houston did a study and found that 39 per cent of shoes contained the bacteria C. diff. In Japan, as well as in many Asian and Scandinavian countries, shoes are removed. It would be a kindness, as you suggested, to provide slippers at the door. Guests could also bring their own.

Dear Maria: We had a mountain of responses to this letter. Several readers directed us to the study you mention, and another by the University of Arizona. Both tested people's shoes and discovered nine different species of bacteria, many of which can cause infections in our stomachs, eyes and lungs. The studies found that bacteria live longer on our shoes than on anything else, and in most cases, the bacteria was transferred to both tile floors and especially carpeting. There are more bacteria on shoes than on toilet seats, including E. coli. Here's more:

Dear Annie: The host is responsible for making guests feel welcome and comfortable. Many people have health conditions that make walking in stockings or soft-soled slippers unsafe. Such things as diabetes, neuropathy, planter fasciitis and balance issues require that shoes be worn at all times.

Dear Annie: Who does this person think he is to decide that he can walk around someone else's house with his shoes on? No one has perfectly clean shoes unless they have just taken them out of the box. Your word choice of “detritus” was very polite. Street shoes have everything from dog poop to dead bugs on them. Who on earth wants that on their floors? Not me.