Woman Scolds Boyfriend for Wearing Shoes Inside While Unloading Groceries, but He Says She Is ‘Being Unreasonable’

A couple is at odds over a surprisingly divisive issue — whether it’s acceptable to wear shoes inside their shared home.

In a Reddit post, a woman described her growing frustration with her boyfriend of one year over their conflicting habits.

“I’m Chinese American and grew up with a strict no-shoes-in-the-house rule, while he’s white and his home is flexible on it,” she wrote. “For example, if he’s already put his shoes on and realizes he needs to pee, he’ll walk across the carpet rather than take them off. For me, I always remove my shoes.”

After moving in together, she began to notice that her boyfriend often kept his shoes on when carrying in groceries — a habit that increasingly bothered her.

“I walk around barefoot, while he always wears socks, and I can feel the dirt on my feet,” she said. “I’ve been trying to ask nicely for him to help keep things clean and take his shoes off, without sounding like I’m nagging.”

After about two weeks of living together, tensions came to a head.

“I couldn’t take it anymore,” she admitted. “He refused to remove his shoes while unloading groceries, and I snapped. I told him it felt like I was scolding a child not to track dirt all over the house.”

Her boyfriend, however, dismissed her concerns.

“He said I was being OCD about dirt, that he doesn’t step in dirty things, and that he’d know if he did,” she explained. “But I told him it doesn’t matter — the outside world is dirty, and other people step in things before he walks in the same places.”

When she pushed back, he became defensive.

“He ranted that bacteria and germs from his shoes wouldn’t harm me — even though I don’t care about germs — and said I should date a mirror version of myself because I was being unreasonable.”

Now, she’s unsure whether this difference is something they can move past, wondering aloud if it’s a “cultural issue” they’ll ever be able to reconcile.

Since sharing her story, commenters have been divided.

One person wrote, “You’re demanding him to conform to your cultural standards, and that’s inherently unfair.”

Another countered, “My family always left shoes at the door. As an adult, my husband and I still do. It’s pretty disgusting not to.”

Others suggested compromises, like one user who commented, “You could keep disposable shoe covers by the door and ask him to slip them on when he has groceries or needs to use the bathroom.”