Shoes Off Outside the Door: My Sister's Shoe Box

I visited my sister, Heather, in her beautiful apartment in Poole, near Bournemouth this weekend.

I was delighted to find that my dear sister had become something of an Offalist. Most of the people in her block of flats leave their shoes outside the doors of their apartments (like detainees at a police station leaving their shoes outside the cells!) to protect the fine carpets. My sister and her boyfriend adopted this practice when they moved in. However, a letter from the landlords had warned that shoes left in the corridor presented a fire hazard. Hence, my sister and her partner are now storing their shoes in a big box outside their apartment. Sadly, Heather did not see fit to enforce her shoes-off policy and she put her shoes on inside the apartment once or twice. However, it is vry encouraging that young people like Heather and her neighbours are more inclined to keep their homes shoe-free than the previous generation.

During the night, the people in an apartment below were playing loud dance music. I think they might have been having something of a party. While it was a little annoying, it was nice to think that it might at least have been a no-shoes party.