Feet on the chair

[MOM21SON]

At my work we have a pretty nice cafeteria to eat it as well as a outdoor patio.  There are a few of us that are repulsed by people putting up there feet on unused chairs.  Some keep their shoes on.  Some wear  socks and some barefoot.  Is there a polite way to ask them not to?  Or is it a management issue?

[bloo]

At my work we have a pretty nice cafeteria to eat it as well as a outdoor patio.  There are a few of us that are repulsed by people putting up there feet on unused chairs.  Some keep their shoes on.  Some wear  socks and some barefoot.  Is there a polite way to ask them not to?  Or is it a management issue?

I think a management issue. They'll put up a notice and a picture of it will end up on passiveagressivenotes.com! 

[siamesecat2965]

One would think that adults know enough NOT to put their feet on chairs in a public place, especialy a place where people eat, but we all know that isn't true! I'd management handle it, or maybe put a bug in their ear, or send a comment, if you can, maybe asking if they can remind people not to do that.

At my PT job, we have a counter in the back, essentialy, with several chairs, which is the "break" area. its very tight, and we have 3 chairs there.  I've seen on CW, several times, remove her shoes, and sit in one chair, and put her feet on the other.  its not an issue of taking up two chairs, but more that her icky, perhaps stinky feet are on a chair we all sit on! I've never said anything as she's the type to take huge offense, but ewww. have some courtesy please!  At home, on your own furniture, fine, but here, um, no thank you.

[Surianne]

I think if a few people are repulsed by something normal like that, it's their issue to deal with.  I'd be pretty confused by someone asking me not to stretch out my feet on a second chair, as it seems very common, at least in my workplace cafeteria.

[Mental Magpie]

I think this is a management issue.  Obviously some people are OK with it while others are not.  Instead of starting what may seem like a personal attack kind of fight, take it to management and ask them to address it.

[TootsNYC]

My personal reaction would be, "This is an outdoor chair. Birds are going to poop on it. Why do you care so much about shoes?"

If it bothers you, ask the company to make disinfecting wipes available, and wipe the seat off.

Because you are never going to get people to stop, and trying to make them stop is going to end up on passiveaggressivenotes.com.

[SingActDance]

I personally would be dumbfounded if someone told me not to put my feet in an empty chair in the cafeteria. I guess I don't see how this presents a hazard for anybody else. But if it really bothers you, ask management if it can be addressed. If enough people agree with you and complain, they'll do something about it.

[Hmmmmm]

Well, you'd be offended by me for sure.  I wouldn't think twice about putting a foot in an empty chair at a table I occupy on an outdoor patio.  I would think the grunge from my shoes would be far less than the dirt from insects, birds, wind, and rain. 

[Moray]

I think the fact that it's outside makes a big difference. There's a certain amount of extra "dirt" you have to expect. If they're doing it inside the cafeteria, as well, you could appeal to management to make a "no feet" rule, but don't be too surprised if they decline.

[Amava]

I'm really surprised that so many people here deem this normal, it must be a cultural difference, maybe? I'm not saying it's wrong, because clearly y'all are in the majority, but... for me it's really "out there" to do that in public.    To the point that if I saw someone with their feet up a chair in public, I would assume they were trying to recover from a bloodpressure dip or they had hurt their foot or something. I don't find it icky or anything ("germs" aren't really in my dictionary - yet another cultural difference ) but it's just... well, not something I'm used to seeing. 

Putting one's feet up a chair is really something for in private only, for me.

[Devix]

I don't really understand why anyone would have an issue with feet on an empty chair unless there was nowhere to sit and that person was taking up two seats.

Think about it, your hands are probably a hundred times more germ infested than your feet/shoes.  Hands touch chemicals, touch surfaces that people sneeze/cough on, touch the restroom facilities where other people may not have washed their hands.  All my shoes ever touch is the pavement/grass and my feet are always washed before putting on my shoes so they don't come in contact with all those nasties that my hands do.

If you do have an issue you should bring it up with management as the other posters have suggested.  If they think it's a problem then they can take proper action.

[Mental Magpie]

Please, the topic isn't whether you find it disgusting or not; the OP wants to know how to handle it because she doesn't like it.  Can we stay on that topic please?

[Jones]

Come to think of it, I don't believe I often see this in public either; usually someone will lean a foot on the crossbar between a chair's legs, or fold up a leg and sit on their foot in their own chair, but people leaning back with their feet up? Taking off their shoes? I don't see it in public, just in private or at barbeques.

However, if I was icked out at the thought of someone trotting in mud and germs and putting their feet on a chair while eating, I'd probably take it up with management or HR, ask if there's a rule or if there's some way a ruling can be made. After all, putting the feet up on a chair next to a table gets the toesies that much closer to where someone is eating.

[Hmmmmm]

I'm really surprised that so many people here deem this normal, it must be a cultural difference, maybe? I'm not saying it's wrong, because clearly y'all are in the majority, but... for me it's really "out there" to do that in public.    To the point that if I saw someone with their feet up a chair in public, I would assume they were trying to recover from a bloodpressure dip or they had hurt their foot or something. I don't find it icky or anything ("germs" aren't really in my dictionary - yet another cultural difference ) but it's just... well, not something I'm used to seeing. 

Putting one's feet up a chair is really something for in private only, for me.

For me, it's because it's outside and it's an office cafeteria.  In my case at my office that would be a patio that over looks a lake, there are sand volleyball courts to one side and a basketball courts to another that are all usually being used during lunch.  Other people will take a book to sit at one of the tables to read and it's pretty common to see someone leaning back with their feet in another chair.  It definately has the "lakehouse outside deck feel" instead of a "busy city restaurant patio feel". 

But thinking back when I used to work in a downtown large skyscrapper where everyone was in corporate dress, I wouldn't have felt comfortable sitting out on the ground floor patio with me feet in a chair. 

So for me, it has to do with how I'm dressed and my surroundings I guess.

[Isisnin]

From the OP's post, it sounds like both indoor and outdoor cafeterias are involved.

I don't recall ever seeing anyone with their feet up on chairs in an indoor eating area.  I was really surprised at read in the OP's questions that this is a work place.  Feet on chairs in the cafeteria workplace is all wrong from professional, courtesy, and sanitary (even if more an "appearance of" sanitation issue) points.

Outside is casual anyways, so its not so surprising there.

but definitely you and each of those who are concerned should say something to management.  They could post a sign