It's kind of interesting how having shoes on or off can be a sign of respect depending entirely on cultural context. Asian style shoes aren't really anything special they're just to keep your feet clean, and it's important to them to show respect to important places. Wearing shoes is like saying "this place isn't good enough for my feet." Western shoes are traditionally expensive and take a lot of craftsmanship. They were worn mainly to work and to church and other meaningful gatherings. Taking your shoes off is like saying "this isn't important enough for me to look like I give a crap". Western people taking their shoes off in their houses is a modern contrivance by the type of people who can't take 10 minutes out of their day to clean their house. Any time I've been invited to someone's house and they made me take my shoes off they've never failed to provide me with a microwave dinner.
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