The other night Jackson, Audrey and I had the opportunity to meet Steve, a great grandfather and widower who is a native of the Lehigh Valley. After much conversation about my kids, his great grand kids, and his new house, he learned that we are from Minnesota. He asked if it was common or just the quirk of a MN friend of his to remove his shoes upon entering a house. Oh, I told him it was strict protocol to remove shoes when entering a home, and how hard it is for me to adjust to the shoe clad NorthEasterners who tromp my clean wood floors with who knows what on the bottoms of their shoes. He found this emmensly entertaining. The past few years he had decided that it is smart to have guests remove shoes before entering his home. He likes to keep things orderly, since his wife passed away. I told him I would try my best to get the shoe-removing manners to stick here in PA. He replied, "if you start that club, I'd be the first to sign up!"
Steve was so pleasant to talk with, I find myself hoping I will run into him the next time we stop in the Emmaus McDonalds for supper. The next old man we would meet would be ART. His club of choice is "No tresspassing or I'll call the cops on ya". That is another post, for another day.
