Many of the commenters praised the boy for taking time to take off his shoes before sleeping as it suggested breeding and good manners.

MANILA — Shoes and footwear are partners, but the two are not always together. Sometimes, the feet prefer a state of shoelessness like when on the beach, in the bathroom or in bed.

A very amusing proof of this on-and-off relationship between feet and shoes came from three-year old Zacc Abonitalla of Cagayan de Oro City.

Last week, the little boy’s mother and his siblings went window shopping at a home supply store while waiting to be fetched. Suddenly, his mom, Judah, could not find him. After searching for him from aisle to aisle, she found him napping at the gift wrapper section.

The photo of the boy sleeping in an unusual place with shoes off was funny and cute. After being posted on social media and reported by a TV network, it went viral racking up 43,000 likes, more than 11,000 comments and 29,000 shares on the network’s Facebook page.

Many of the commenters praised the boy for taking time to take off his shoes before sleeping as it suggested breeding and good manners.

Of course, the practice of taking off shoes when going to bed is normal for Filipinos and almost everybody else. After all, it’s uncomfortable to sleep with one’s shoes on and not removing them may soil the bed sheet.