Whose Idea Was it to Surrender Your Footwear Upon Entering a Certain Type of Home?

Mr. M and I, in working with the college students, are often asked (or at least made aware of the expectation of us) to take off our shoes in some homes and apartments. Now, it is not just students who ask (or expect) us to surrender our footwear; there are also alumni. All of our bare-footed hosts have two things in common-they are Asian (or they are so often surrounded by all things Asian that they have forgotten that they themselves are not actually Asian), and they are smart. So I'm wondering if there's an unwritten rule among smart people-regardless of race-that shoes are not to be worn indoors.

I was taught in jr. high to put a question mark after a statement that begins with, "I wonder." However, I was taught earlier in my educational career to put a period at the end of any statement, no matter how it begins-so that's what I stick with. It seems the logical choice to me. Telling you what I wonder about is merely stating a fact, so I don't see that it deserves a fancy punctuation mark any more than if I tell you, "My favorite color is purple." I feel perfectly at peace with my punctuational choices, although I do still feel the need to explain. I hope you'll appreciate my sincerity?