Tra l'altro ecco alcuni esempi di come gli italiani siano sfottuti all'estero per questa mania delle ciabatte in casa:
my life italian: Living Dangerously
oppure:
And that’s just while we’re out of the house. At home, everyone wears shoes, too. In America, when I get home I take off my shoes. It’s just to be comfortable, but I know some people take off their shoes at home as to not scuff up the floor or carpet. But here, the first time I took off my shoes, my host family was very confused. They asked why I was walking barefoot. It was actually sort of humorous to them. At home, Italians wear slippers, clogs, or other comfortable shoes. I think it’s because people don’t clean the floors as often here- before I started wearing shoes full time, the soles of my feet would get black with dirt.
O ancora:
They also never go around barefoot. Even in their own homes, they always wear slippers. The sight of bare feet would disgust any Italian.
Insomma è veramente una "necessità" sentita solo da noi che io non condivido affatto. Se è per il freddo piuttosto metto i calzettoni antiscivolo sopra i calzini normali, se è per lo sporco lavo il pavimento più spesso ma delle calzature sul pavimento di casa... fosse per me le scarpe andrebbero tolte anche da ospiti.