I’m not an expert but my partner is from SE Asia.
She’s quite judgemental and inflexible about this. I’m not condoning her views but they might provide some cultural insights.
Shoes on inside is perceived as rude. It’s particularly awkward when you go to someone elses house and they ask you to leave your shoes on. Taking your shoes off is tied up with hygiene and reverence and respect and being asked to disregard that is being asked to… diminish yourself in some way.
People in our orbit tend to wear footwear you can just slip on and off. That doesn’t mean sandals or flip flops. You just tie off your laces at the “right” length and you can slip them off without untying, and slip them on by, at worst, putting your finger in behind your heel to pull them into place. Some shoes just don’t work in this way, and these are reserved for longer outings like work et cetera.
We do have several communal pairs of slippers for use exclusively in the tiled area of our living room. They’re just really cheap practically disposable open toed slippers. The kind you get in hotels.
We have toddlers and, thankfully they seem to be excluded from the shoe-rules.
osaerisxero@kbin.melroy.org 2 days ago
This is objectively the correct answer to the problem.