The Batlord

You don't want the box getting dirty, duh.

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ribbons

She had a big special brush for it, too (like a bristled broom without a handle). She didn't want the "soot" tracked into the apartment at all, even if just inside the door. I remember quite well her referring to it as "soot". And my soot-y shoes had to go in a separate box, away from the family's shoes. I think she was rather germaphobic. They lived in a very densely populated, high-traffic neighborhood of the city that wasn't terribly clean, so I think she was super-worried about impurities brought into the house.

The Batlord

Soot is ash, not dirt. Was she an anti-vaxxer too?

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Marie Monday

You read the whole story in all its weirdness and that is the first question you ask?

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ribbons

Don't know whether she was an anti-vaxxer - but I was a bit puzzled by her calling it "soot". Could have been a language thing (the word for dirt in her native language sounds a bit like "soot"), or she misguidedly referenced it as "soot" because there was constant backed-up car traffic and fumes right in front of their building.

ribbons

adidasss, you're not planning on getting a "soot" brush and box, are you?