Wear shoes in the house?

Very sensible.

Once I started travelling around outside of Europe I realised that some people never even think to take their shoes off when they enter a home.

It really irritates me when I see American people on TV wearing shoes inside - especially if they then put their feet up on soft furnishings like a sofa or a bed, or a nice rug... why???

I appreciate that American people on TV are not the same as real Americans, so I'm hoping that someone comes along in a minute to tell me that Americans in real life don't actually do this...