I was getting dressed today for lunch with my neighbor Gwen, and it made me think about a conversation she and I had. Is it polite to ask the guests coming into your home to take off their shoes when they walk in?
I’m getting ready for my marathon party. Yes, the New York City Marathon, Sunday, November 1. This is the 55th running, and it’s been 50 years since the race first went through all five boroughs. No, you’re not invited. Just kidding.
I’ve been working on my home, designing it and getting it ready, and not just for this event. I want to live nicely, so I’ve done the due diligence it takes to make it a home. I think we don’t understand the essence of home.
I talked to my best friend the other day, and he thinks it’s weird that I want people to put on those protective shoe covers when they come into my house. You know, the footies doctors wear in surgery.
Yes, my guests will be walking in and out from the balcony. In and out, that’s energy, that’s dirt, that’s stuff from the outside. My balcony is my balcony, though, and it just got repaved. It gets a little dirty out there, but at least I know it’s not the street.
I believe in energy. I believe people’s energy stays behind, and when they touch your floor with their shoes, that’s their energy. I truly believe that.
I hope nobody reading this who’s been to my house gets offended. Yes, I sage my house after y’all leave. I said it. I’m a big energy person, and energy does not leave your home. That’s why they call it a transfer of energy. Whether you believe it or not, I can’t help you.
I remember Whoopi Goldberg talking about this on The View. That was February 2022, and Whoopi was against asking.
Here’s what I’ll say. If you walk into someone’s house, I think you should ask if you should take your shoes off. And I don’t think it’s a problem to ask your guests to put on some footies. It’s my home. Who has to clean the floor when everybody leaves? Me.
My best friend doesn’t think that’s proper, but hey, it’s not his house. It’s mine.
So what do you think? Is it okay to ask your guests to take off their shoes, or put on protective footies, when they’re at your house or your party?
Sources: The View, February 2022, as reported by FBC News (source). 2025 was the 54th TCS New York City Marathon, per AOL (source). 2026 marks 50 years of the five-borough course, per the Innocence Project (source).
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