Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska

Wanda's Diary Entries

Monday, December 7, 2009

Poles tend to be more careful about tracking dirt and mud into their homes and public places than we Americans. In every Polish home I’ve ever visited, once inside, residents and visitors alike are expected to park their shoes at the foyer and switch immediately to slippers. (Even visitors tuck fold-back slippers into their pocketbooks to carry with them.) This custom extends to public places like swimming pools, where patrons turn in their coats and shoes or boots to what we would call the “hat check” attendant before proceeding to the changing room and pool. This procedure is not optional.

Once inside the locker room, you are supposed to change to your flip-flops in order to move around. After your pre-swim shower, swimmers step through a low basin of warm water to remove any residue on the feet before hitting the pool. People like teachers or adult attendants who come to the pool to watch children swim and have no flip flops are issued a kind of plastic foot wrapper that covers the shoe. These wrappers (which look something like a woman’s plastic hair net), serve a dual purpose: they keep street dirt off the floors and protect the shoes from getting wet.

Schoolchildren, too, are expected to maintain two categories of footwear: one for getting to school and the other to wear in school. This focus on clean feet makes great sense in a city where so many people travel by foot and public transport. It’s a smart idea that Americans may want to adopt as well.