We took a family walk down to Walgreens last night, and about halfway there, I happened to look down and noticed that my husband was wearing his slippers. We proceeded to give each other a hard time, neither one understanding the other’s point of view.
MINE: It’s embarrassing. I don’t really concern myself with what others think for the most part, but I also know that many people are judgmental and will treat you differently if you have the appearance that you either don’t take care of yourself or are dirt poor. I don’t want to make either statement about my family, and I don’t like drawing attention to myself or my family. I definitely don’t want our daughters to have any excuses to not want to go places with us as they approach their teen years, when they will fashion plenty of these excuses themselves. I will teach them not to care what other people think in that way as much as I can, but teens will be teens. Besides, the signs on public places say, “No shirt, no SHOES, no service.” Technically, slippers are not shoes, and I like to follow the rules.
HIS: I’m comfortable. Who cares what people think? If they judge, that’s their problem. The signs on the doors of public places are referring to no BARE feet.
I told him if I wrote to Dear Abby, she would say wearing slippers in public is not appropriate, and he challenged me. So I said I would make a poll on my blog. What do you think?
[poll id=”17″]
[poll id=”18″]
[poll id=”19″]
At least they were not Goofy slippers! We had pj day at the mart when I was employed there. I don’t think it’s a big deal that he wore them to Walgreens. He was comfortable and I doubt that people looked down to see what was on his shoes… they WERE covered. If my spouse wanted to wear slippers in public, I would let HER do so without saying anything 😉
Or what was on his feet. 😉 The slippers aren’t THAT bad, are they?!
I can see both sides. As someone who always had to look like a professionals daughter when in public, I always rebel against dressing up. This from an era where dresses meant slips and hose! Now, when I don’t hve to dress up , I don’t. Murphy’s law though, whenever I run uptown real quick to grab something, I ALWAYS run into a parent and/or former student looking my worst!
On the other side, it seems like even in these enlightened times, the woman is always held responsible (often unfairly) by what the spouse and kids do.
I noticed this alot when people would ask me why my then husband was not in church. I would mostly say, Ask him (which they wouldn’t!)
But life goes on and I am glad to live in a little town where slippers are acceptable in most places.
No, I am not going to touch this with a ten foot pole. The only good answer is no answer. 😉
At least they weren’t Sponge Bob pajama bottoms….
How about slippers that look like other footwear? I had slippers once that looked like sandals. Besides, hasn’t at least one company profited from comfort over looks? That would be those ugly Crocs I’m talking about.
As for the polls, I think I will tread carefully here and try to choose some “safe” answers if there are any… 😉
Okay, that is about all I am comfortable answering. I had two answers I wanted to give for the second question, but it would only allow me to pick one, so I just chose between the two.
For the third, where’s the “I’ll put on my slippers and join you?” This can be taken in more than one way of course- either, “Hey, good idea” or “I’ll just put on these ridiculous novelty slippers and see how s/he likes it!” A safe answer since it can go more than one way. 🙂
I don’t have any slippers to wear for “revenge” especially novelty ones. I wear these Croc imitation sandals (that are totally breaking) as slippers, so I guess those could be considered the same as slippers in public – embarrassing. But it’s not like I have been able to find any other shoes to wear! So maybe he is just as embarrassed by my “breaking beach shoes” – the kids won’t want to be seen with EITHER of us pretty soon! Haha, derek, that you should mention how ugly Crocs are. My generic ones are very comfortable, but then again, they were $3 and have lasted me years…
But Carol is right – the woman is often held responsible for these things; I guess I just shouldn’t care. But it’s not like the slippers were practical – he had to chase my son to keep him from running into the street (he was closer, and I was tending another kid), and the slippers fell off as he ran. He’s lucky he didn’t break an ankle! So I forgot to talk about the safety issue, which is the most important part. I guess it just irked me that my opinion was taken so lightly and also argued against. The polls (and the post for that matter) were all in good fun – thanks for your thoughts and comments!
@ justj… I see nothing wrong with wearing SB pajama bottoms in public. HAHAHA! Of course, if people knew me… 😉
jamiahsh, sponge bob scares me. 😉