You don't want the box getting dirty, duh.

She had a big special brush for it, too (like a bristled broom without a handle). She didn't want the "soot" tracked into the apartment at all, even if just inside the door. I remember quite well her referring to it as "soot". And my soot-y shoes had to go in a separate box, away from the family's shoes. I think she was rather germaphobic. They lived in a very densely populated, high-traffic neighborhood of the city that wasn't terribly clean, so I think she was super-worried about impurities brought into the house.

Soot is ash, not dirt. Was she an anti-vaxxer too?

You read the whole story in all its weirdness and that is the first question you ask? :laughing:

Don't know whether she was an anti-vaxxer - but I was a bit puzzled by her calling it "soot". Could have been a language thing (the word for dirt in her native language sounds a bit like "soot"), or she misguidedly referenced it as "soot" because there was constant backed-up car traffic and fumes right in front of their building.

:laughing:

adidasss, you're not planning on getting a "soot" brush and box, are you? ;)

Timberlands are the greatest shoes i ever had

No matter how much I like my shoes (and it has to be noted that this is my addiction, I check shoemall at least twice a month), I don't wear them at home. And all my guests respect my rules and always take their shoes off. I can't imagine how it can be clean at home if everyone wears the same shoes when they go outside.

If we’re at home for any significant amount of time, my family and I have our shoes off—it’s just more comfortable that way. Since the only floor in our house that’s carpeted is in my wife’s and my bedroom, which we don’t give guests access to, we are fine with people leaving their shoes on. I try to be respectful of the hosts’ preferences when I’m a guest at the homes of others.