Three men take advantage of a break in a diplomatic council to visit the bathroom. After they are done relieving themselves, the Japanese man fair blasts his hands with water, soaping and rinsing several times. He explains, "In my country, we hold ourselves to high hygenic standards. I try to remain as clean as possible." The Iranian man soaps and rinses quickly, using a minimal amount. He says, "In my country, we are taught to conserve our resources. We must not waste the blessing we have been given." The American does not even look at the line of faucets, casually saying over his shoulder as he leaves the room, "My dad taught me not to piss on my hands."
It's an oddly sensitive topic, though. I've seen people get offended at being asked, and I've seen people get offended because guests didn't automatically take their shoes off without being asked.
Weirdness all around.
> My shoes are relatively clean
I hate to break it to you but your shoes are filthy.
Living the SF Bay Area now, I'd say it's slightly more common to take one's shoes off indoors, but certainly not the rule.
I just generally don't step in disgusting stuff. I don't want it on my shoes, whether or not I'm wearing them indoors. I don't live on a farm. I don't regularly walk across fields or on dirt roads. My shoes are relatively clean, and I don't have wall-to-wall carpet so I don't have to worry about dirtying the carpet so much.