Faux Life: Things That Happen On TV But Not In Reality

[SVNBob]

8 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

Also I don't think it's very regional even just more family specific.  You hear all terms in all places.  

This is true.  Those maps were all about the "dominant", as in statistically most used, term.  I think I even saw one version of the map showed differences between neighboring counties (like there being a "pop" county in the middle of a state that was generally "soda".)  There may be general trends in given regions, but no location is 100% on a single term.

 

9 hours ago, Zella said:

Maybe it's somewhat generational too?

This also seems to be true.  For example, in Boston, the word "tonic" (as in tonic water) is commonly used by older residents, but the term has been losing favor to "soda" over the years.

 

7 hours ago, Raja said:

Could be, the influences of TV and global communications turn regional differences to mush.

Pretty sure that's the case, and it's because of the writers.  Most tend to be from one coast or the other, and thus use the most common term in those locations, "soda", in the scripts they write.  Even for shows set in the Midwest, where "pop" would be more accurate.  I'll give them a pass on not using "coke" in Southern shows, since that is technically a brand name and would be a form of advertising.

[Shannon L.]

Omg.  I was watching The Rookie last night, and all 4 cops went into a hostile situation where they knew that the enemy could have multiple weapons and they all had helmets on!  Didn't the director know that the leads never wear helmets in such scenes?  For a minute there, I thought I was watching a news reel. 

Edited September 28, 2021 by Shannon L.

[Mabinogia]

7 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

Omg.  I was watching The Rookie last night, and all 4 cops went into a hostile situation where they knew that the enemy could have multiple weapons and they all had helmets on!  Didn't the director know that the leads never wear helmets in such scenes?  For a minute there, I thought I was watching a news reel. 

This reminds me of the first time I watched a British crime drama.

US crime scene, think your CSI or your L&O. Detectives might put on some gloves, but they are in their street clothes, women with their hair flowing etc. 

British crime drama. They are all in those papery white hazmat looking jumpsuits. They stop at the threshold of the murder house and put on some little booties so their footprints don't mess up the crime scene etc. 

I was all "wow, that makes way more sense. Sure it's not quite as sexy, but it feels way more accurate. 

 

[Raja]

23 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

This reminds me of the first time I watched a British crime drama.

US crime scene, think your CSI or your L&O. Detectives might put on some gloves, but they are in their street clothes, women with their hair flowing etc. 

British crime drama. They are all in those papery white hazmat looking jumpsuits. They stop at the threshold of the murder house and put on some little booties so their footprints don't mess up the crime scene etc. 

I was all "wow, that makes way more sense. Sure it's not quite as sexy, but it feels way more accurate. 

 

There was a short lived American TV show  about 10 years before CSI called Unsub staring David (Hutch) Soul which was a cross between CSI and Criminal Minds which was the only place I saw the forensics suits before Prime Suspect came to PBS

Edited September 28, 2021 by Raja

[Bastet]

52 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

They stop at the threshold of the murder house and put on some little booties so their footprints don't mess up the crime scene etc. 

They did that on Major Crimes and The Closer, too, and I made a game out of spotting whether, when a character was wearing high heels, the actor kept those heels on with the booties over them, or wore some comfy slippers/shoes underneath the booties instead.  Basically, if the framing necessitated them being at heel height, they kept the character's shoes on, but if not, there were a number of times when they went for comfort instead.

Edited September 28, 2021 by Bastet

[Danielg342]

My understanding is that Hollywood directors direct their actors and actresses to leave their faces and heads uncovered out of the belief that audiences relate and react to them better that way. It's probably why most Hollywood productions did a cursory nod to COVID-19 and masking and promptly went back to how things were before (though I suspect keeping the current episodes "timeless" may have also played a role in that decision).

From my own vantage point- with the hope that this does not spark pandemic-related debates- having gone a year and a half with mask-wearing I do feel there's a dehumanizing effect. Maybe it's because I'm just not used to it and I'm just sick of the pandemic in general but I do feel, anecdotally, it's easier for me to relate to someone when they're not wearing a mask versus when they're wearing one, so I can see why Hollywood- even though it's unrealistic- does the same.

[Shannon L.]

2 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

This reminds me of the first time I watched a British crime drama.

I'm watching my first one right now and after the first scene of the cops chasing a subject, I said to my husband that it was really odd to see a scene like that with no weapons drawn. 

[Zella]

2 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

My understanding is that Hollywood directors direct their actors and actresses to leave their faces and heads uncovered out of the belief that audiences relate and react to them better that way. 

I think some of it is also being able to identify characters. It's one reason war movies and shows are notoriously bad about using helmets. Band of Brothers is confusing when you first watch it because it's a bunch of twenty-something white guys who all have the same haircut and all wear a helmet most of the time. They slapped names on the helmets in the first episode, which wasn't historically accurate but was mildly helpful, but I know for myself and a lot of other people it was a little hard to keep track of who was who at first beyond the ones who got some distinguishing characteristic. Of course that makes it fun to rewatch! But the helmets didn't help. 

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, Shannon L. said:

I'm watching my first one right now and after the first scene of the cops chasing a subject, I said to my husband that it was really odd to see a scene like that with no weapons drawn. 

I like the documentary series Nightwatch and recently watched some episodes of a couple of similar UK series (about paramedics, police, and fire responding to 999 [like our 911] calls), and there are some notable differences with British vs. American EMS folks (they're able to do more in the field, and are nice and quick with pain relief), but, wow, the differences in police are staggering.  I knew some basics, but actually watching cops and not yelling at my TV screen was a revelation.  Not perfect, certainly, but a fundamentally different concept of what policing is meant to do and how to interact with the community.

I hate most American crime dramas for how they normalize, justify, and even celebrate a variety of police misconduct - not to mention the simplistic attitude towards crime and the apparent fetish for showing violence, especially against women - but maybe I would similarly spend less time yelling at British versions.

[praeceptrix]

13 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Not perfect, certainly, but a fundamentally different concept of what policing is meant to do and how to interact with the community.

I hate most American crime dramas for how they normalize, justify, and even celebrate a variety of police misconduct - not to mention the simplistic attitude towards crime and the apparent fetish for showing violence, especially against women - but maybe I would similarly spend less time yelling at British versions.

If I could "like" this a thousand times, I would!

[Raja]

The ultimate in using headgear or lack of it to identify characters would have to be The Rat Patrol where each soldier wore a different kind of hat, an Australian hat, a beret, a steel pot and a kepi so from long shots you knew who was who. Something done on CHiPs with Jon and Ponch having different colored gloves and batons on their motorcycles.

I remember on the Canadian show Flashpoint the officers wore helmets in their piot episode but then dropped them. That was just about the time that the world's armies and special forces were adopting smaller helmets that were not primarily for protection from overhead shell fragments.. On S.W.A.T. they do normally wear that newer technology helmet that exposes more of the head, those helmets  showed up on The Rookie.

There was a WWII movie where part of the plot during training was the young officer was told to put his Marines in their helmets and have them turn around so he could identify them  by their silhouette. Of course back then you also did not have body armor to worry about. Back when Christopher Dorner was hunting cops in the Los Angeles area  I had noticed on the streets officers were wearing particularly bulky armor before the news told us about Dorner and his spree killing.

Edited September 29, 2021 by Raja

[Danielg342]

51 minutes ago, Zella said:

I think some of it is also being able to identify characters. It's one reason war movies and shows are notoriously bad about using helmets. Band of Brothers is confusing when you first watch it because it's a bunch of twenty-something white guys who all have the same haircut and all wear a helmet most of the time. They slapped names on the helmets in the first episode, which wasn't historically accurate but was mildly helpful, but I know for myself and a lot of other people it was a little hard to keep track of who was who at first beyond the ones who got some distinguishing characteristic. Of course that makes it fun to rewatch! But the helmets didn't help. 

I never caught that about Band of Brothers. Guess I have another reason to rewatch it. :)

On Criminal Minds, you'd often have the SWAT units depicted realistically- in full gear and proper helmets that covered the entire head. Of course, the SWAT units were simply stock characters and were usually joined by at least one or possibly more members of the main cast. The main characters had nothing on but their regular clothes and a form-fitting bulletproof vest, with nothing on their heads except for the communicators in their ears (and Derek Morgan and his sunglasses).

The only reason I can give for that difference is that the CM main characters are supposed to be the main "heroes" of the story so we'd have to see them in all their glory whereas the SWAT people can remain faceless.

19 minutes ago, Raja said:

On S.W.A.T. they do normally wear that newer technology helmet that exposes more those helmets and showed up on The Rookie.

S.W.A.T. I think is trying to meet "reality" halfway. Someone on the production team must have said, "these guys need to wear helmets when conducting a raid", so even the main characters get slapped with helmets.

However, to keep up with Hollywood's need to have identifiable heroes, their helmets are always worn with the face shields up, even though if they were going on a real raid they'd be lowered. That's strange enough, but it's even stranger when you realize that their face shields are transparent so it should not matter if they're lowered or not. I guess the producers don't like taking that chance.

[Llywela]

10 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

I'm watching my first one right now and after the first scene of the cops chasing a subject, I said to my husband that it was really odd to see a scene like that with no weapons drawn. 

 

8 hours ago, Bastet said:

I like the documentary series Nightwatch and recently watched some episodes of a couple of similar UK series (about paramedics, police, and fire responding to 999 [like our 911] calls), and there are some notable differences with British vs. American EMS folks (they're able to do more in the field, and are nice and quick with pain relief), but, wow, the differences in police are staggering.  I knew some basics, but actually watching cops and not yelling at my TV screen was a revelation.  Not perfect, certainly, but a fundamentally different concept of what policing is meant to do and how to interact with the community.

I hate most American crime dramas for how they normalize, justify, and even celebrate a variety of police misconduct - not to mention the simplistic attitude towards crime and the apparent fetish for showing violence, especially against women - but maybe I would similarly spend less time yelling at British versions.

Conversely, as a Brit, even though I've been watching US dramas most of my life, I still find it jarring, and also quite alarming, to see how heavily armed and, frankly, hostile the police always are in your shows, even when they are meant to be the heroes. They always seem to yell at everyone, including the people they are supposed to be helping.

Give me Midsomer Murders any day!

[Spartan Girl]

I don’t know if this is right for this thread but The Cheesecake Factory in The Big Bang Theory doesn’t even remotely resemble the one in real life.

[Raja]

Speaking of police yelling I have never seen an actual police foot chase but I really doubt that when yelling at folks to stop the officers give their agency (show) name instead of generic "police stop".  It just happened that an undercover FBI agent, which might be generic enough in America to use, called the NCIS agents on expecting people to stop because you yelled N.C.I.S. at them.

[Katy M]

3 minutes ago, Raja said:

Speaking of police yelling I have never seen an actual police foot chase but I really doubt that when yelling at folks to stop the officers give their agency (show) name instead of generic "police stop".  It just happened that an undercover FBI agent, which might be generic enough in America to use, called the NCIS agents on expecting people to stop because you yelled N.C.I.S. at them.

I've never seen a chase either.  I'm also, for whatever reason, thinking that NCIS wouldn't have to chase anyone.  But, if they did, I do think they would yell NCIS instead of police, as they aren't police.

[Shannon L.]

Just now, Katy M said:

I've never seen a chase either.  I'm also, for whatever reason, thinking that NCIS wouldn't have to chase anyone.  But, if they did, I do think they would yell NCIS instead of police, as they aren't police.

I was in bed one night when I heard cars and a siren get louder and louder, then screech to a halt right near our house.  Then I heard doors open and feet pounding right by our window, which was at the side of our house and which also happened to be up against the neighbor's driveway.  I don't recall hearing any shouting, but I knew the chase was going to be over in a second because of Bear, the neighbor's Rottweiler :)  (who really was a sweetheart, but I wouldn't have wanted to run into his backyard like that, especially at night). 

[Ohiopirate02]

54 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

I don’t know if this is right for this thread but The Cheesecake Factory in The Big Bang Theory doesn’t even remotely resemble the one in real life.

I assume this was some sort of product placement because there is no reason to use an actual chain restaurant name within in the context of the show.  Penny could have easily been a waitress at a local restaurant.  

[Raja]

14 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I never caught that about Band of Brothers. Guess I have another reason to rewatch it. :)

On Criminal Minds, you'd often have the SWAT units depicted realistically- in full gear and proper helmets that covered the entire head. Of course, the SWAT units were simply stock characters and were usually joined by at least one or possibly more members of the main cast. The main characters had nothing on but their regular clothes and a form-fitting bulletproof vest, with nothing on their heads except for the communicators in their ears (and Derek Morgan and his sunglasses).

The only reason I can give for that difference is that the CM main characters are supposed to be the main "heroes" of the story so we'd have to see them in all their glory whereas the SWAT people can remain faceless.

S.W.A.T. I think is trying to meet "reality" halfway. Someone on the production team must have said, "these guys need to wear helmets when conducting a raid", so even the main characters get slapped with helmets.

However, to keep up with Hollywood's need to have identifiable heroes, their helmets are always worn with the face shields up, even though if they were going on a real raid they'd be lowered. That's strange enough, but it's even stranger when you realize that their face shields are transparent so it should not matter if they're lowered or not. I guess the producers don't like taking that chance.

The original S.W.A..T. was probably the first gun and tactical movement porn show that I remember besides the WWII in Europe set Combat in syndication The new show is Navy SEALs except we capture and not kill the occasional suspect. Being as real as possible on the equipment and tactical movement level with the main heroes is the only reason for the show to exist. Especially since the unreal stuff of having them do the investigative work is were the nitpicker gives the show a side eye.

Edited September 29, 2021 by Raja

[Moose135]

3 hours ago, Katy M said:

I do think they would yell NCIS instead of police, as they aren't police.

No, but a more generic "Federal Agent!" would probably work better.

[ABay]

Dan Taberski did a great podcast about the effect COPS has had on actual policing. This Vulture article discusses it.

His current one, 9/12 is really good, too.

[Danielg342]

A rather sombre "this happens all the time in Hollywood but never in real life".

TV characters- even ones in high and/or public positions- tend to be more conciliatory, more forthcoming and simply more honest and humble than people tend to be in real life.

The politician who actually admits they got it wrong.

The boss who tells their underling they weren't good enough and the underling agrees completely.

The love interest who tells the potential suitor where they really stand and lets them down easy.

...and on and on.

Now, maybe this has something to do with the simple preference of fiction to be "idealized", simply out of the idea that characters who are more honourable are the kinds of characters fiction writers- and their audiences- prefer, especially if they're people who are in positions of authority. This isn't to say that sleazebuckets don't exist in storytelling, but they're usually reserved for villainous characters who, more often than not, receive their comeuppance and either realize they need to be more honourable or are made to pay for not doing so.

Real life is different. Even when you have people- politicians, celebrities, experts, athletes, etc.- who are perceived as honourable those people still have their moments where they'll deny as opposed to admit and hold back instead of reveal. A lot of that has to do with the "calculated" nature of being in the public eye- i.e,, the politician that doesn't want to lose supporters, the celebrity upholding their image, the expert trying to sound certain and the athlete trying to win- but I do find even among "regular" people this is commonplace.

Maybe it's just my anecdotal experience but I worked in a factory of 500 people for seven years. The amount of people I interacted with whom I would consider even remotely honourable I could count on one hand. Same thing dealing with others when I'm just out and about. The old adage of "good people are hard to find" really holds strong, I find.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting that we all live in a world where 99.99% of people are rotten individuals. I think it has more to do with the fact we each expend a lot of energy caring about something- whether it be ourselves or others- that I believe most of us are simply selective with who we're open with and what we're open about. Thus, as long as we get by in our lives, we don't concern ourselves with how people we don't care about perceive us.

I also believe we're naturally distrustful of others, done as a survival mechanism. Just the fear that someone will twist our words in a manner we didn't intend them to be is enough to get most of us to be cautious in what we do say to other people.

Which is why I think many people come across as cagey to us.

Which is also why Hollywood's tendency for characters to be more open and honest is both jarring but welcoming at the same time. Art is commentary, and I think honourable characters speak to how I believe most of us wish life was like. Life would be so much easier if our bosses were more straight with us on how they see our performance, if our co-workers took responsibility for holding us back and if our love interests actually were forthcoming on how much interest they actually have in us instead of stringing us along.

To say nothing about what we expect out of our politicians and other public figures.

So maybe this is one of those things TV gets wrong but, deep down inside, we all wish they got it right.

Edited October 1, 2021 by Danielg342
Added clarification points.

[Stats Queen]

On 9/24/2021 at 5:23 PM, Browncoat said:

The tea drinkers in my family just order tea when at home in the South-- the iced part and the sweet part are assumed.  I remember once when I was young (this would have been the 70s) and we travelled somewhere that was not the south, and my mother ordered tea.  She got hot, unsweetened tea, and confused the waitress by asking for a glass of ice to go with the tea.  

I mostly drink water, and have a terrible time getting a glass of water at breakfast when I'm out and about.

I learned that when I first moved to Georgia and ordered an iced tea that was already sweetened. Learned that lesson quickly.

Took me a few experiences to understand the passive-aggressive “Bless Your Heart”

 

[SVNBob]

2 hours ago, Stats Queen said:

Took me a few experiences to understand the passive-aggressive “Bless Your Heart”

Really?  Well, bless your heart.

 

(Sorry.  Couldn't resist that set-up.)

[ABay]

But did you even try?

[RealHousewife]

13 hours ago, Stats Queen said:

I learned that when I first moved to Georgia and ordered an iced tea that was already sweetened. Learned that lesson quickly.

Took me a few experiences to understand the passive-aggressive “Bless Your Heart”

 

Speaking as a southern lady, sometimes I do mean it in a nice way. But yes, sometimes I'm politely saying fuck you. 

[Shannon L.]

I've often wondered how common it is for bad guys to have a bus pull up over a man hole (or a van with a hole cut in it parked in the right spot) so they could escape under ground.  

[proserpina65]

On 9/28/2021 at 9:06 PM, Zella said:

I think some of it is also being able to identify characters. It's one reason war movies and shows are notoriously bad about using helmets. Band of Brothers is confusing when you first watch it because it's a bunch of twenty-something white guys who all have the same haircut and all wear a helmet most of the time. They slapped names on the helmets in the first episode, which wasn't historically accurate but was mildly helpful, but I know for myself and a lot of other people it was a little hard to keep track of who was who at first beyond the ones who got some distinguishing characteristic. Of course that makes it fun to rewatch! But the helmets didn't help. 

That's why a lot of the characters in Black Hawk Down had their names on the helmets.  Because otherwise it would've been impossible to keep some of them straight.

On 9/28/2021 at 9:37 PM, Raja said:

The ultimate in using headgear or lack of it to identify characters would have to be The Rat Patrol where each soldier wore a different kind of hat, an Australian hat, a beret, a steel pot and a kepi so from long shots you knew who was who.

I loved Rat Patrol.  It was on the only UHF channel we could get when I was a kid.  The headgear definitely helped.

 

[Zella]

1 minute ago, proserpina65 said:

That's why a lot of the characters in Black Hawk Down had their names on the helmets.  Because otherwise it would've been impossible to keep some of them straight.

I think you're right! When I was writing that comment, I was trying to think of one where people had names on helmets because I remembered that vaguely from a war movie, and I think BHD was what I was thinking of. 

[proserpina65]

1 minute ago, Zella said:

I think you're right! When I was writing that comment, I was trying to think of one where people had names on helmets because I remembered that vaguely from a war movie, and I think BHD was what I was thinking of. 

There was one person whom a friend and I kept calling "Saltine" because that's what it looked like on his helmet.  Even though we found out it was something else, he will never not be Saltine when I watch the movie.

[Mabinogia]

8 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

I've often wondered how common it is for bad guys to have a bus pull up over a man hole (or a van with a hole cut in it parked in the right spot) so they could escape under ground. 

I won't even think about robbing a bank unless there is a very conveniently placed man hole near the door. Wait, I mean, I won't even think about robbing a bank. Yeah, that's what I mean. Nothing to see here copper, just going about my business um, inspecting this man hole. Yep, it's up to code. Carry on. 

[Danielg342]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't manhole covers bolted to the lid? You can't just pop them open like a bottle cap and simply remove them- you need specific tools for the job and even then it's not a quick job.

[Bort]

3 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't manhole covers bolted to the lid? You can't just pop them open like a bottle cap and simply remove them- you need specific tools for the job and even then it's not a quick job.

They’re not bolted but they’re really fucking heavy. It’s usually a two man job to pull a manhole cover up.

[juno]

Please have the decency to take your shoes off when walking around a person's home. Floors are hard to clean and carpets virtually impossible.

[Bastet]

9 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't manhole covers bolted to the lid? You can't just pop them open like a bottle cap and simply remove them- you need specific tools for the job and even then it's not a quick job.

No, my dad was able to - with tremendous difficulty, but just strength, no tools - remove one to rescue a kitten he heard meowing (and the person who'd tossed the kitten in a cage down the manhole had obviously been able to pry it up as well, although who knows what they used - my dad used the adrenaline surge of hearing a cat in trouble and the fact the asshole hadn't put it back fully snug).

Edited October 9, 2021 by Bastet

[Rose Quartz]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

No, my dad was able to - with tremendous difficulty, but just strength, no tools - remove one to rescue a kitten he heard meowing (and the person who'd tossed the kitten in a cage down the manhole had obviously been able to pry it up as well, although who knows what they used - my dad used the adrenaline surge of hearing a cat in trouble and the fact the asshole hadn't put it back fully snug).

Your dad is a hero!  I’m appalled, but sadly no longer surprised, that some people can be so cruel.

[Mabinogia]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

No, my dad was able to - with tremendous difficulty, but just strength, no tools - remove one to rescue a kitten he heard meowing (and the person who'd tossed the kitten in a cage down the manhole had obviously been able to pry it up as well, although who knows what they used - my dad used the adrenaline surge of hearing a cat in trouble and the fact the asshole hadn't put it back fully snug).

Awe, your dad is a hero! 

[crazycatlady58]

6 hours ago, juno said:

Please have the decency to take your shoes off when walking around a person's home. Floors are hard to clean and carpets virtually impossible.

Everyone is different, I prefer people to wear their shoes in my house. I am more concerned about picking up a foot fungus or athletics foot.

[Bort]

6 hours ago, juno said:

Please have the decency to take your shoes off when walking around a person's home. Floors are hard to clean and carpets virtually impossible.

If they ask me to I will but ordinarily, I will not take my shoes off in someone’s house, nor do I require them taking theirs off in mine. 

[JustHereForFood]

21 minutes ago, crazycatlady58 said:

Everyone is different, I prefer people to wear their shoes in my house. I am more concerned about picking up a foot fungus or athletics foot.

But you know that shoe soles have worse things on them than fungus, right? Like traces of urine and other human or animal bodily fluids that are on the street...

[Mabinogia]

31 minutes ago, crazycatlady58 said:

Everyone is different, I prefer people to wear their shoes in my house. I am more concerned about picking up a foot fungus or athletics foot.

I have a severe aversion to human feet so I would much prefer people keep those things covered! Which brings me to those folks on TV who wear flannel winter PJs (because it is cold out!) but run around the house barefoot. Do they not know you lose most of your heat through you feet? Socks, slippers, come on people! They obviously don't have the heat on that high if they're in flannel PJs so why the bare feet? 

[Bort]

54 minutes ago, JustHereForFood said:

But you know that shoe soles have worse things on them than fungus, right? Like traces of urine and other human or animal bodily fluids that are on the street...

So do my floors, I have a cat who tracks litter everywhere. Trust me, you want to wear shoes in my house.

[Bastet]

I don't wear shoes in the house, but it's up to my guests whether they want to or not; they're guests, I want them to be comfortable.

In real life, it's probably a pretty even split between people who wear shoes in the house and those who don't, but on TV, shoes are far more common, even on furniture.  Part of that is because the stage floors get filthy with all that equipment, so barefoot actors wind up with dirty feet. 

(Not to mention the websites dedicated to either mocking or getting really creepy about celebrities' feet.)

[Constant Viewer]

I was always taught it was rude to take your shoes off in someone else's home unless you were asked or given permission.

Edited October 10, 2021 by Constant Viewer

[Bastet]

3 minutes ago, Constant Viewer said:

I was always taught it was rude to take your shoes off in someone else's home unless you were asked or given permission.

It depends; in some cultures it's rude to leave them on.

[Stats Queen]

1 hour ago, Constant Viewer said:

I was always taught it was rude to take your shoes off in someone else's home unless you were asked or given permission.

I have horrible feet that need arch support, so I like keeping my shoes on for that reason. While I do like walking around in bare feet at home at times, the amount of cat litter….

[Llywela]

10 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

But you know that shoe soles have worse things on them than fungus, right? Like traces of urine and other human or animal bodily fluids that are on the street...

It is a cultural thing. There is no definitive right or wrong, merely what each individual prefers or expects.

[crazycatlady58]

14 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

But you know that shoe soles have worse things on them than fungus, right? Like traces of urine and other human or animal bodily fluids that are on the street...

Yes but weirdly enough that does not bother me. Those things do not give me a foot problem unless I have an open sore on my foot. We all see things differently. 

[crazycatlady58]

12 hours ago, Bastet said:

It depends; in some cultures it's rude to leave them on.

Yes, that's what she said. You follow the rules of the house.  Although if I know someone prefers no shoes in the house I would ask if I could bring a pair of house shoes that had not been worn outside. 

[SusanM]

I've always assumed (perhaps wrongly) that the shoe or not shoe thing was a seasonal thing that became somewhat automatic year round.  Here in Canada unless you bring shoes with you a good chunk of the year when you're visiting you're going to be wearing socks unless they don't mind your boots and if it's your own house you're putting shoes on when you get home.  I don't think most Canadians bother.  Maybe slippers but not shoes.  

Edited October 10, 2021 by SusannahM