Dear LFTP: is asking guests to remove shoes tacky?
- Is it tacky or rude to ask visitors to remove their shoes in a new house with young children?
Dear LFTP letter one: a listener building a new house with young children asks whether it is tacky or rude to ask visitors to remove their shoes to protect new flooring. The panel says no — check for shoes piled at the door, warn guests in advance, keep spare slippers or disposable booties, and don't spend money on floors you will stress over. The letter cites the Japanese custom of removing shoes, and the discussion devolves into 'house shoes' versus slippers and Jeff's $85 house shoes.
More on Hospitality
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Dear LFTP: the single man and the holiday cliques
- Would it be wrong for the lonely single man to start declining holiday invitations?
The first Dear LFTP letter: a single man, happy with his life and plenty of friends and family, dreads the holidays — at Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings of 15 to 25 people,…
From No. 603 · Found Out
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Dear LFTP: the inclusive dinner and the autistic boy
- How can I stay inclusive when a new family's severely autistic child disrupts my neighborhood movie night?
Mike reads the first Dear LFTP letter: a single woman hosts monthly inclusive neighborhood dinners and movie nights (kids, dogs, a ramp for an elderly neighbor), but a new…
From No. 600 · Rage The Elephant
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Dear LFTP #2: friends who always bring extra people
- How do we stop friends from inviting extra people to our gatherings?
Mike reads the second letter: dear friends who socialize a lot keep inviting extra people to gatherings at the listener's lake house — including, once, a passed-out stranger ('my coyote fell asleep on the couch').
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Dear LFTP: the $600 lawnmower and buying them a mower
- My nephew's wife took my $600, lied about it, and is avoiding me. Should I say something or let it go?
Mike reads a letter from someone who gave a nephew's wife $600 for a self-propelled lawnmower; she spent it, never bought the mower, and now avoids them.
From No. 587 · Coffee After Sunday