I'm the same as cakification. Everyone here removes their shoes when they enter another persons house. It just somthing you do out of respect. My parents and grandparents now long gone, were the same. It was unheard of to wear street shoes inside anothers home.

Even repairmen here remove thier shoes. If they don't remove them, they'll put disposable covers over their shoes instead. The only person who did come inside my home with shoes on, (but never has since) was my SIL. He came inside, stepped onto the living room carpet with his work boots on, and left two lovely black oil stains.
Those oil stains never did come out.

Depends on where you're from. In Hawaii, EVERYONE takes their shoes off in the house. I personally find it gross, even if you do wipe your feet, to wear shoes in the house. But then again I am Japanese and its just what I'm used to.

those with babies crawling and playing on the floor, I think shoes-off is a must. I hate shoes in my house because shoe cracks will cake up more or less dirt from the outside where wiping dont really get it off...if someone refuses to take off shoes, I do have a lot of used toothbrushes if u like to ACTUALLY clean ur shoes before entering...i'm tired of cleaning the floor 10 times a day and have my poor clean white shoes turn black. Oh, and little ones tend to drop food and have the reaction of picking it up to eat again, (even if you teach them NO)
And actually I think having some cheap sandals are a great way to please both crowds! That works for my guests!

Yes, thats my opinion. Thanks. dont start flying daggers at me.

P.S. respect is part of complying with the host's house rules, just because it goes against what you like or dont like is kinda sad in a way. It's like going into a tie required/ no jeans or shorts restaurant, they wont let u in if u come in with shorts and t-shirts.

I meant buying some cheap sandals to put by the door can please both crowds u can go without shoes or choose a sandal to wear.

Okay that is totally your choice to ASK people to take their shoes off. No problem! BUT in this case no one asked the OP to take her shoes off. From the sounds of it she had no idea that shoes had to be taken off. She was focused on getting her cake to the house and not on people's feet. If the lady of the house wanted her to take the shoes off she should have asked her to. She should not have flipped out on her in an e-mail that she didn't just know to take her shoes off. Thats the issue here. Well with the shoe thing lol.

I am killing myself laughing...and for the caker at this point I cant even remember who posted this-hold your head up doll. I delivered a cake, and while carrying the big cake box, I failed to notice everyone was "without" shoes....my son told me later since he went with....either way we have all proven a point-shoes...no shoes..pants....no pants (LMAO)-we ALL need a a good dose of laughter!

At this point I'm rolling on the floor just reading all the comments. For the past twenty-five years hubby and I lived in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and had the requisite big house with hardwood floors, oriental rugs and assorted trappings. While we never asked guests to remove shoes, we always wore socks or house slippers inside to keep everything "just so."

One day we looked at each other and realized just how far we'd both strayed from the roots of the respective farms on which we'd each been raised. Considering our children were grown with families of their own and we are basically retired, we could find no reason to continue to live in the heat, humidity, rising crime and land of out-of-sight property taxes of Texas when our hearts had been in the mountains for years.

We packed up a year or so ago, bought some land in the Middle of Nowhere, Wyoming, built our country log-style home about 60 miles northeast of Yellowstone and never looked back. Our laid back lifestyle now means we're just happy that when friends from nearby ranches come to visit they at least pause to wipe their boots on the mud scraper at the front door, lol!

I've enjoyed all the different points of view here and I guess it just all comes down to what makes you and the people you love comfortable and happy. We appreciate our closest neighbors (antelope and deer) and the cherish the good folks of this ranching community who know my kitchen is spotless but my floors just may have a boot track here and there.

When I just started out I got a call from my daughters new husbands cousin she needed a cake for her daughters first birthday and she wanted to give me her business since I was just starting out and she needed it in a week. I didn't want to do the cake but my daughter asked me to she had just gotten married and wanted to get to know everyone and she would deliver the cake. So I ask her what she wants and she says nothing to fancy . She calls me a couple of days later and now she wants a carousel cake so I make the cake on Saturday . The delivery time 4 pm Sunday .We have a really bad snow storm Saturday night She calls at noon and asks me if I can deliver it at 1:00 So I drive the cake over there. There is know place to park so I asked if some one could give me a hand because I have to walk 2 blocks with the cake 2 trips know one can help I get to the door with the first load and she asks me to take off my boots I said okay but my feet are wet because of all the snow from the 2 block walk she said she did not want me to walk on her floor with my wet feet so I handed her the cake and said some one should follow me back to my car if they wanted the rest of the cake because I was going home she was very mad . By the way my daughter was stuck in her driveway and didn't make it.

Last year I delivered a wedding cake to this restaurant (bride and groom owned the restaurant). Everyone had to deliver through the kitchen, and at the door from the kitchen to the dining area everyone had to remove their shoes before entering to work. She had the floors waxed the night before and didn't want them marked up.

The wedding was being held there, then the reception. I wondered as we were leaving if they were going to make all their guests remove their shoes too.

So sorry you had this problem with this customer. That really bites. Had this lady called me this is what I would have told her - I have a 48 serving minimum or $150 so she would have been SOL from the get go. I don't deliver anything that is not wedding cake size - at least a 100 servings. I would not have baked her cake nor delivered it.

Have y'all ever noticed that many times the people that gripe the most are the ones ordering the least? Traffic happens - accidents, rain, etc. Some things are simply out of our control and that is why I don't deliver anything really but wedding cakes or cakes of that size unless it is convenient for me. (last week I was going to the doctor at 5:50 for a late MRI appointment and I took the cake with me to that city instead of having to wait on the lady to come all the way out to my town and she met me at the dr. office) A $10 delivery fee is way too low with gasoline the cost it is and that doesn't include your time. Ms. Take Your Shoes Off would have had to pick her cake up and it would have been twice as much as you charged. I couldn't find your album so I don't know what the cake looked like. I think her expectations for all kinds of designs on a cake for $75 was ridiculous.

You can't please everyone and she sounds like a nut. I would send her back a note telling her I was sorry she was unhappy but given the limited information and the short notice that is all that could be accomplished. Tell her you discounted it $25 for being late and that you apologize for being late.

Bless it and let it go. Hugs to you.

Everyone wore their shoes in everyone else's house in the area I area up. We moved 7 hours away, in the same state, and everyone here makes you take off your shoes. I didn't know this and kept my shoes on in people's houses many times. I hate taking off my shoes in people's houses. It is very embarrassing because my feet don't smell good. I have gone so far as to not go to some people's houses because of the shoe issue.

One time I had a broken ankle. I was on crutches and had a walking cast. I went to the house of one of my husband's co-worker so the kids could have a play date. The wife tried to force me to remove my cast and said I could not use my crutches. I politely told her I was sorry but I could not walk without either, said goodbye, and turned to leave. She decided I could come in, but I had better be super careful and not mark up the linoleum floor. She made me balance myself to take off my other shoe (a chair would have been nice, not sure how I managed to not fall) She then confiscated my crutches the minute I sat down on the sofa. Yes, I know I was stupid to stay, but I didn't want my husband to have a problem at work. I never accepted another play date offer from her though.

wow...Secret...I am appalled that someone would be so freaking rude in their own home. I live in Texas and I can't imagine asking someone to remove their shoes at my home. I have had super plush carpet before and now I have wood floors. Yes, it was a pita to keep the carpet clean and to keep the wood floors clean but I would never embarrass a guest nor make someone uncomfortable in my home.

Wouldn't it be kinda hard to remove your shoes while you're carrying a heavy (?) or awkward cake?

Its obvious that it depends how and where you were raised about the shoe thing. haha. Indy...my parents were raised in Indiana and we never had a no-shoe rule. Must be a Hoosier thing. haha.

I try to keep my boys from wearing shoes through the house (including my hub) but its a losing battle (I succeed 75% of the time) so oh well. They weren't raised that way either.

My rule of thumb is to see what my host or hostess does. If I see a line of shoes near the door, I take mine off. If the host or hostess goes right in the house with their shoes on, I keep mine on too. Pretty simple. Although if I'm delivering a cake, I do not balance my cake while taking my shoes off...just like I've never seen a repairman or appliance delivery guy removing theirs when they show up at my house.

Thanks everyone for cheering me up! I really love the direction this post took. I got some good laughs. I actually decided to raise my prices, have a minimum and not take rush orders anymore! It has been a good learning experience. So glad to have a place to share

I really hope the shoe nazis don't have pets. What do you do when you let your dog out to use the bathroom? Do you wipe all of his paws with an antibacterial wipe before he comes back in?

What about cats? Cats use a litter box...They literally walk in their litter box where there waste is...Do you wipe off the cats paws every time they leave the litter box?

In these days of multiculturalism almost everywhere you go, it is to be expected that everyone and every culture has their own believes and way of life. It is not polite to say that I don't practise taking off my shoes and therefore no one should expect me to before entering their homes. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. As a host, how would you feel if a guest in your house behaves in a way that is unexceptable to you?

I grew up in Asia where it is the norm to have a no outdoor shoes policy inside homes. Now I live in a Western country, I still maintain this policy in my own home mainly because it is what I prefer and am comfortable with. I do tell Western guests who come to my home to take off their shoes and usually they are obliging. I did have an obnoxious guest once that asked me to make an exception for her and made a nasty remark when I said no (seriously wanted to slam the door in her face and needless to say, she has never been invited back again). When I visit other people's homes, if it is not an Asian household where I would automatically take off shoes unless they tell me not to, I do ask the host if they prefer me to take off my shoes.

We should be able to do what we want in our own homes, and a guest should be able to respect that and not make fun of it.

Well, at least when Martha Stewart asks for people to take off their shoes she then hands them little cozy booties to wear in the house. Then they can take them home, so no one is wearing someone elses booties!!

I don't ask people to take off their shoes, not yet. I am currently working on handmade wool rugs for the house, once they are done, well, my rules may change. Cleaning those rugs is far more difficult than commercially made rugs. My hardwood is easy to clean, and yes, the dogs are worse than the people!!

Tami

I do know of people who wipe their dogs paws before they are allowed in the house.........

This is a sign I found a while ago to post on the front door:

We all make choices in life,
Take off your shoes,
or mop my floor.

We remove our shoes here in my home but I would not expect someone making a delivery to do so. Everyones standard of cleanliness is different.
Ultimately she had an issue with the cake but if they cake was what she wanted the " shoe thing" would never had been and issue.

Hmm Where I live everyone takes off they're shoes? And also wear socks? I never knew people walked in houses with dirty shoes.

For the person who was talking about shoe bottoms being germier than toilets... so were the counters in my cafeteria when we did that test in high school. I figure my kids are going to get germs pretty much everywhere, and I'm not one of those people that sterilize every single surface known to man. I'd like to my kids to have somewhat of an immune system. And be able to play in the floor regardless of whether shoe or barefoot walked there. So whatever's comfortable in my house, bring it on! It's not like I won't sweep or mop after you leave anyway.